Demon Star Collision
by blu blade
Summary: When a demon was sent to the world of humans, they were given one rule: don't mate with a Strife. Axel intended to follow that rule no matter what, even if one of them was sexy, tempting, and wanted him back. Even if that Strife needed protection. And even if he might be the only person that could save him from himself. Akuroku. Three-shot.


**Hey guys! I have a new three shot for you all! I think you'll like this one, it dips into the supernatural side of things. I'm really happy to be posting this, because I've been deathly afraid that I would lose this. I switched from a PC to a mac because I needed it for my major, and hadn't gotten around to switching over all my files. Suddenly, my PC died, and I lost almost all of my documents! Luckily, I had saved the important stuff in an email just in case something happened. Then, when I got around to using my mac, I spilled nail polish remover on it (clumsy bum!) and I lost THOSE files. Pew pew pew. Anyway, I got it back and was able to finish it! Here is the first installment for you all! **

* * *

Demon Star Collision

Rated: M

* * *

"_You realize you only have eight months left to find a human to mate with, you dumb fuck."_

Not the most comforting voice message Axel had ever heard, but his best friend Zexion had never been one to beat around the proverbial bush. Besides, the guy was right…Zex was _always_ right. If he didn't get his ass in gear and find someone to hook-up with by the time his mating season was over, he was going to die. Literally.

Let the record show that this wasn't completely his fault. Seriously, it was the fault of Zeus for making such fine ass specimen. Every day, all day, Axel found himself perched in a tall willow tree, looking creepy as fuck, watching the Strife brothers run the little restaurant in downtown Endverse.

There was just something enormously fascinating about those Strife men. _Ridiculously_ fascinating. _Stupidly_ fascinating. He'd seen a lot of men in his lifetime so it was hard to catch his attention…but _damn_. The Strifes were the most interesting lot of boys he had ever seen.

Of course, some of the fascination could stem from the fact that they were the only men on Earth that he, or any other demon, was not allowed to mate with. That was certainly part of the appeal. Axel, unfortunately, was one of those guys who loved a challenge; that, above all things, was his biggest vice.

But there was something else. The sort of something else that had kept his eyes glued to them for years whenever he was summoned on Earth to do a mission. At this point, he didn't have an excuse. Now he was on Earth with one goal only; he _should_ be trying to find a human mate…yet here he was, watching those Strife men like he planned to choose one for his bride.

Not that he was thinking of doing that. Really! But, if he _was_…Cloud was already out. He was actually the reason for the Strife family restriction. Sephiroth, one of the bad-asses of the demon world, had mated with Cloud a few years earlier, but not before declaring the rest of them off-limits for everyone else. Apparently, that was the only way Cloud would agree to be his human mate.

See, demons were required to mate with a human by their 21st year or else they would die. It wasn't easy either; demons mated for life, thus a human and a demon had to be completely sure in their decision. If either one left the other after being mated, the other would die almost instantly; on the flipside, each would live longer than normal while together.

In Axel's case, his 21st birthday was coming up—in eight months, in fact…Zex didn't get much wrong—and he still hadn't made much progress in finding a human mate. There really wasn't any excuse; fortunately, he was born as a half-demon (like Sephiroth), so his appearance was quite human-looking. Furthermore, he was tall and handsome, among his awesome demon powers, so he appealed to humans quite a bit.

But he just couldn't help but waste all of his time watching the Strife men. He ached to talk to them; see if they were real. He thought about asking Sephiroth for permission, but one cool look from the guy could make him pee his pants.

No. If he was going to talk to them, he was going to have to be sneaky. And really, wasn't that his nature?

Cloud, the oldest Strife, owned a restaurant called The Place or something or another. As a gift to Sephiroth, he allowed law-upholding demons to rest and eat in solace, so long as they didn't call any attention to themselves. Axel wasn't exactly law-upholding—he was being forced to do missions during his mating season as a punishment—but he figured Cloud had no way of keeping track. Besides, it wasn't like he _looked_ evil.

So, with a big grin, Axel walked into The Place, ignoring all of the hushed whispers and awed sighs in favor of finding a fascinating Strife boy to talk to.

Hmm…say he _did_ want to try his hand at testing mating compatibly. It was true, Cloud was already out of the running. Besides, he didn't seem like the friendly type. So that left Sora and Roxas, the twins who were practically glued to the hip.

His grin widened. Two for one special.

Actually, they couldn't be more different, or at least that's what it seemed like to him. The brunette one was always wearing a smile, talking to any and every person in the general vicinity. The blonde…well, he hadn't been able to dissect him completely, yet. Sometimes he would catch him sneaking outside to talk to the stars…something Axel had to admit was pretty cute. But other times he would go on a bitch fit and snap at everyone.

He couldn't quite pinpoint what kind of person Roxas was. But that was alright…challenges were his specialty.

Green eyes flitting around anxiously, Axel realized that the twins might still be…wherever the hell they went at this time…so it would be a little while before they would stop by. So he took the opportunity to slide into an empty booth and watch Cloud for a bit.

As unfriendly as Cloud Strife looked, Axel still liked to watch him, because he was always trying to figure out what it was about him that made Sephiroth so obsessed. Seriously, if anyone even mentioned the name Cloud, Sephiroth was in their face in a heartbeat, looking to fight or maim somebody. Jeez.

At the moment, Cloud was talking to a taller male—a brunette—at the bar. The other guy had a scar down his face, but it didn't detract from the man's obvious good-looks. Axel raised an eyebrow as the man slid a shot down to Cloud, who grinned conspiratorially at him before downing it. Hmm…did Sephiroth know about this guy?

Right as the thought finished in his mind, Cloud stiffened and looked straight at him, blue eyes narrowing distrustfully. Axel, only slightly startled, smirked back at him, giving him a little two-fingered salute as if to say, _yo!_ to a longtime friend.

Now the other guy was staring at him too, only his was much more of an open glare. Axel's smirk stretched a tad bit. This was going to be _fun_.

Cloud whispered something to the guy before getting up and stiffly walking towards him, his expression guarded and his eyes maybe a little bit…nervous?

His smirk fell a good deal at that thought. Zeus, the last thing he wanted to do was scare the man. He figured it would take a hell of a lot to scare someone who was bound to Sephiroth of all demons. Still, he _was_ kind of infringing on the guy's space, so he needed to play a bit nicer.

As soon as Cloud reached him, he made a point to smile genuinely at the guy. "Hi."

"Who are you?" Cloud asked bluntly, frowning down at him. Axel made a gesture for him to sit, but he remained stubbornly standing, instead choosing to narrow his eyes even more, if that was possible.

"I guess you could call me a friend of Sephiroth's…" Axel mulled slowly, struggling not to grimace. Calling them friends was stretching it…he was pretty sure that guy didn't _have_ any friends. At the most, he and Sephiroth were acquaintances; occasionally they went out for drinks in the Succubus Society (and by going out for drinks he literally meant drinking beers silently, without conversation) and sometimes the two sat together at assemblies.

But no one would dare call Sephiroth a friend. So for someone to say such a thing to the guy's mate…well, it _had_ to be true, so Cloud immediately relaxed—or as much as someone like Cloud could relax.

"Oh," Cloud murmured with a shake of his head, looking like he had the whole world on his shoulders. Axel rolled his eyes. That was the same expression this guy always had on his face. Cloud, almost as if he could read his thoughts, suddenly looked down at him again and asked in confusion, "Then why have you been watching me?"

Axel wanted to point out that it wasn't just him he was watching, but all the cute Strife men. But obviously, that wouldn't go over well. Instead, he asked the second thought that formed in his head, which was, "You noticed me watching?"

Cloud sighed and finally sat down across from him, much to Axel's delight. "I've never actually managed to catch you in the act, but ever since I mated with Sephiroth, I've been able to sense when someone is thinking about him. Call it a gift or a curse, whatever. Point is, you think about him killing you a lot whenever you watch me."

Axel grinned slyly. What a serious, to-the-point guy. It was that kind of trait that made him want to mess with him. Just a little. "Admit it. You like the fact that I watch you, don't you?"

Cloud looked positively disgusted at the thought, but his cheeks reddened a little bit. "That's ridiculous. Don't say stupid things."

Axel wriggled his eyebrows suggestively, trying not to laugh. "If that's the case, why haven't you told Sephiroth about me watching you? Huh? _Huh_? Sounds like you like it."

Cloud glared stormily at the table. "It's not that I like it. I just don't mind it. And if I tell Sephiroth about how creepy you've been, he'll kill you. And the last thing I need on my conscience is your death."

"How sweet." Axel snorted, leaning back and rolling his eyes. Still, the urge to tease was vanquished with the mention of his impending death, so he changed the subject. "So, where do your brothers go when they're not here?"

At the mention of his brothers, Cloud instantly became guarded again. "None of your business. Listen. If you're going to be here, you're going to have to follow the same rules as all the other demons."

"Rules?" Axel repeated revoltingly, frowning at the hideous word. "What rules?"

"There's only one." Cloud stood back up and glared down at Axel, resting his weight on his palms to add even more menace to the stance. "Don't interact with the humans."

Axel heard the serious intent in Cloud's voice, but he waved it off with a curt, "yeah, yeah, sure", knowing _full_ _well_ he was going to break that rule as soon as the twins came by. But until then, he could play nice. He'd follow Cloud's silly little rule and let the guy think he was trustworthy and all that bullshit.

Cloud's annoyed huff indicated he hadn't been convincing enough, but the cutie still turned away, heading back to his anxious looking friend at the bar.

Shifting his gaze from Cloud's ass to his grumpy companion, who was now outright sneering at him, Axel smirked to himself. Meeting Cloud…annoying his little human friend…this was a lot more fun than he thought it would be! He needed to break the rules more often.

Suddenly, the doors opened, and Axel perked up instantly as two gorgeous, stunning, identical males walked inside, being trailed by a pretty brunette girl and a tall, attractive silver-haired man. Green eyes watched with interest as the group sat at a nearby booth, pulling out menus and chatting amicably.

The blonde one wore his usual scowl, frowning as he pointed to an item on the menu while the brunette twin just smiled widely at him, nodding energetically. Axel was just starting to smile too when the tall one ruffled the blonde twin's hair affectionately, earning a grudging upwards tilt of the mouth. Hey! For whatever reason, this rubbed Axel the wrong way, and suddenly, he really, really, _really_ needed to go over there and introduce himself.

* * *

Roxas Strife wasn't bitchy by nature. He was bitchy by principle. Everyday people didn't deserve his smiles, they sure as hell didn't deserve his kindness, and they didn't deserve to see him at his best. Life was a short, nasty little event, so why waste it by being nice to everybody?

Sora, Roxas' twin brother—older by two minutes—obviously didn't think that way. He was of the belief that the nicer you were in life, the nicer life would be for you. Eh. Optimists. No one could understand them.

Still, maybe Sora had a point. It's not like Roxas was counting or anything, but he was the only one out of his friends that had never had a real boyfriend. It just didn't make sense! He was pretty sexy, or so he'd been told. He was plenty fun to be around once you got past the foul attitude. And he was good at everything!

Meanwhile, Sora was clumsy as hell, a massively lazy student, and jumped to conclusions much too quickly. But somehow, he had managed to catch the affections of Riku Yakama, the most beautiful man TWTNW University had ever seen!

It wasn't like Roxas wanted _Riku_ or anything. It was just the principle of the thing! He deserved some love too, didn't he?

Now he, Sora, Riku, and Kairi (Sora and Riku's best friend) sat in Cloud's restaurant, rolling their eyes and grumbling about how silly Cloud's little "come see me before you can go anywhere" rule was. Or maybe that was just him.

Really, he shouldn't be that annoyed about all of this, as if it was some kind of surprising thing. Both he and Sora knew they would be under their older brother Cloud's control 24/7 if they chose to attend the same college Cloud was going to. But really, they had no choice. Both of them got bad grades all through high school—Sora, though smart, was too lazy to ever do his homework while Roxas' grades suffered from constant suspensions for fighting with Seifer—so Cloud had to wine and dine the dean of the university to get them in. And luckily, Cloud had a way of seducing men.

In exchange for getting them in, they both had to agree to help him run the restaurant as well as check in with him before they went out anywhere. Which seemed a little extreme to Roxas. Nothing exciting ever happened in this town.

To get his mind off of his boring life—and the lack of a man to excite it—he grabbed a sticky menu and pointed to the first item he saw…an expensive ass beer.

Well, shit.

Sora's bright blue eyes lit up like it was the 4th of July. "Rox! You're going to be drinking with us tonight?"

Roxas sighed, adding the same roll of his eyes that he had been giving Sora _every_ weekend since their freshman year started. "No Sora…you know I'm not _that_ guy."

Sora nodded energetically, still not comprehending that Roxas was trying to let him down gently. "So, you're saying you _want_ to be that guy? Because I totally like those guys! Guys like the guy you're trying to be…"

Riku leaned over and ruffled Roxas' blonde spikes, smiling in an infuriatingly sexy way. "Don't worry Rox, we all know Sora's about as sharp as a marshmallow."

Roxas tried hard not to smile as his twin gave Riku an indignant punch to hide his blush. Sora absolutely _detested_ looking stupid in front of Riku, and he hated it even more when Riku was the one pointing it out.

"Sh-Shut up! Why are you always so mean?" Sora whined, tugging on Riku's arm obnoxiously. Roxas took this opportunity to look around the restaurant; when his brother started whining, the flirting always started, and he didn't want to see them get even closer to dating. Romance was only fun for the people involved.

He was still zoning out when he heard Sora sputter, "Huh? Hey!" in an uncertain tone of voice. Roxas glanced up just in time to see—

The sexiest man he had ever seen, staring right back at him. He felt his cheeks immediately redden so he pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, trying to hide it, while Sora, Riku and Kairi exchanged looks of surprise at the new visitor.

"Who are you?" Sora asked bluntly, poking the sexy stranger curiously. "We've never seen you here before."

The man, a redhead, smirked and Roxas nearly _came_; Zeus he was so attractive! "The name's Axel. A-X-E-L, Axel. Got it memorized?"

Uh, duh. Who could forget a name that cool?!

Sora and Kairi both burst out laughing as Riku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. But Roxas still couldn't bring himself to meet Axel's gorgeous green eyes. No, the guy was much too good-looking. Hell, he'd just screw it up and say the wrong thing.

"And I'm Sora, and that's Kairi, and over there is Riku, and this is Roxas, my twin brother!" Sora babbled, pointing to each person as he introduced them, smiling happily at the notion of making a new friend. Even as Sora talked, Roxas could almost feel Axel's gaze boring into him.

Finally, he knew he couldn't be anti-social anymore; he needed to say _something_! So, summoning his courage, he found the bravery to say…

"What are you looking at?" In the bitchiest tone of voice ever.

Roxas internally kicked himself. Goddamn it!

* * *

Axel's smirk widened so much, he knew he had to look like the cockiest bastard ever. But the blonde Strife was so freaking adorable, he just couldn't help it! He was the one. _This_ one was the one he wanted to mate with. Well, you know…if he were _actually_ planning on mating with a Strife boy. Which he wasn't. But if he _was_…Roxas would be the first on his list.

Sure, Sora was cute, but all it took was one glance at the tall, silver-haired one…Riku…to make him scratch him off the list. _He's spoken for_ was the look that guy was shooting him. And Axel could respect that. After all, why fight for Sora when Roxas was available and cute and sassy as hell?

Now he only had to get him to like him back.

"What are you looking at?" That was what Roxas had asked him testily. Hmm…well, a forward question required a forward response.

"I'm looking at the cutest boy I've seen in a while." Axel answered in response to his probably creepy gazing. Roxas, the one he was eyeing, just shook his head and averted his eyes, frowning down at the sticky table. Almost absently, he muttered, "This place really needs to be cleaned better."

"Well, kid, that's exactly why I'm here!" Axel lied smoothly, covering Roxas' hand with his own. Of course, the other immediately removed his hand. But Axel didn't miss the slight tremor of the beautiful boy's hand.

"To bother us?" Roxas shot back, finally meeting his eyes in defiance. As soon as blue eyes met green, a strange shudder ran through Axel, startling him and causing his hair to stand up on end. What the fuck?

The kid must have felt something too, because suddenly he was fighting to get out of his chair, stammering about having to use the bathroom. Axel blinked and watched him go in a trance. Woah. That was fucking amazing! He was never one to believe those stories about love at first sight (or in a demon's case, love at first bite), but that little experience could really change a guy's mind fast.

"You okay, Axel?" Sora asked him, stretching so happily that Axel kind of doubted he was _that_ concerned about his wellbeing. Without waiting for a response, he turned to Riku and cheerfully noted, "Selphie's party should be starting now."

Riku nodded, still eyeing Axel distrustfully. "Yeah, let's go. Now."

Axel slid out of the booth in confusion, watching as Sora, Riku and Kairi all tumbled out, gathering their coats and bags. What about the kid? They were just going to leave Roxas here?

"Hey, what about—?"

Sora turned around, grinning at Axel as if nothing was wrong. "Tell Rox we went to Selphie's party, kay? Bye!"

And with that, the three were out.

Axel sat back down in the booth, shaking his head with a smirk. They were some strange friends…but now he would get some alone time with the sexiest human in his life. Sora's naivety was going to be his opportunity.

* * *

Roxas splashed some water on his face, trying to get his game face on. He was _not_ going to look like some blushing schoolgirl in front of this guy. He was Roxas Strife, for heaven's sake! He had a reputation of being hard to get, and damn it, he was going to keep that going. It was the only relatively interesting thing about him; once guys "caught" him, they never stayed long.

Yes. He was going to have to make Axel work for it, despite the truth being that he was just about ready to take the man home with him.

Every night for the last few weeks, Roxas had been sneaking outside and praying to Zeus, his parents, the stars…whoever it was that was out there. And the one thing he asked for…the one thing he wanted…was someone to love him. All of him. Completely. Forever.

He did it sometimes on a whim…he didn't _really_ think he was going to get a response in the form of a man. Besides, Sora and the gang never noticed when he slipped out, so he didn't see the harm in a little extraterrestrial, spiritual connectivity.

But now, holy Zeus…it seemed to have worked! Zeus had definitely sent him a man…and a sexy one at that. He smirked at himself in the mirror. It was pretty obvious Axel wanted him too…now he just had to be swift and play the game, even if one touch from the guy made him tongue-tied.

Leaving the bathroom, Roxas made a pit stop to the kitchen, where he knew Cloud would be working at this time. He figured it would be best to let him know that they'd been here before the rest of them left; Sora was notorious for forgetting to tell Cloud he'd stopped by. And they'd learned the hard way that a concerned Cloud was an angry Cloud, and an angry Cloud was a maiming Cloud.

"Cloud?" Roxas called out over the frantic baking and shouting of the cooks working in the kitchen. He kept his eyes open for spiky blonde hair that was just a tad bit bigger than his own.

Impatience being his greatest flaw, some of his natural bitchiness began to surface. "Hey, Cloud, Mr. Tell-Me-When-You-Leave-So-I-Can-Lecture-You-About-Safe-Sex-And-Penetration, where the hell did you go disappear to?" Roxas snapped loudly, earning a couple of chuckles from the cooks. From the other side of the kitchen, however, he heard an exasperated sigh. Cloud.

Smirking, he dodged the chaos of the kitchen and managed to see a blonde head at the back of the room. Eagerly, he picked up the pace, happy to temporarily have a distraction from Axel's sexiness.

"Cloud, you don't have to hide from me. Not after last night." Roxas teased innocently when he came face to face with him. At his stormy gaze—a look Sora and Roxas came to recognize as an expression of extreme embarrassment—he cracked a grin. "What? I promised I'd name the baby Cloxas, didn't I?"

Leon, who was originally hidden behind Cloud, stepped forward with an equally serious expression on his face. Roxas rolled his eyes. Jeez. Both of them were the most somber people he'd ever met.

"Roxas, be wary of that redhead in the restaurant." Leon said quietly, folding his arms and peering down at him. "We need to check on him."

Roxas shook his head. It was a little too late to be telling him that; he was pretty sure Axel would get in his pants by the end of the night. Still, it was a good idea to let them think he always took their advice. "Check on him for what?"

Leon frowned, but Cloud just placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder and replied, "I just need to see if he is a good guy, alright?"

"Sure, whatever. Anyway, I think we're going to head out, so I'll see you tomorrow." Roxas managed to get out casually, trying not to betray the fact that he was planning to see Axel more often if everything went well. "Bye."

He didn't need their advice this time. He'd met Axel…the man was _obviously_ a good guy. Well, more of a _sexy_ guy, but…kind and sweet nonetheless. There was no problem to be had here.

Cloud and Leon watched him go for a second, before Cloud finally yelled out, "Don't forget to do your homework, Roxas."

Roxas let his middle finger do the talking as he walked away from them.

* * *

"Not bad." Axel nodded, grinning cheekily at the waitress who had just given him an order of cheese fries. He actually wasn't into flirting with people he wasn't attracted to, but Roxas had been gone a long time, and he was bored as hell.

Besides, he got some free cheese fries out of it.

"You're still here?" A voice asked him coldly, and Axel's grin widened at the realization that Roxas was finally back. He immediately turned all of his attention to him, ignoring the waitress who was still standing there in confusion.

When even Roxas noticed her, Axel just waved her away with a "that's all, thanks" as if they hadn't just been doing some heavy duty flirting. He would've felt bad if Roxas wasn't there. But goodness, she was wasting his precious Roxas time!

"I was waiting for you." Axel answered truthfully, raking his eyes over that gorgeous face. "Your little friends left."

Roxas rolled his eyes with a sigh. "They always do."

"I would never leave you." Axel pointed out casually, absently dragging his tongue across a fry. "It'd be a serious waste and you're far too sexy for that."

Roxas blushed and turned his attention to the food in front of him. At a loss of words, he struggled to find something sexy to say but ended up loudly asking, "Gonna eat all of that?"

Axel smiled at the kid's obvious nerves. So cute! "No no, go ahead and have some."

"Thanks." Roxas muttered, reaching out to grab some. Before his hand could touch the food, however, Axel's hand shot out and grabbed his, intertwining their fingers quickly before he could protest.

"W-What—?"

"Roxas," Axel began seriously, staring into his eyes. "I think this is fate."

That calmed the kid's nerves. He received a blank look from him. "Huh?"

"Fate. You know, destiny and all that jazz? I think we're meant to sleep together tonight." Axel explained slowly, eyes fixated on those perfect pink lips. "If you say yes, that is."

Roxas blinked rapidly and his breathing quickened a bit. "You're…so forward."

Axel smirked a bit. Got him. It was time to go in for the kill. "It's not like we're strangers; I'm friends with Cloud's boyfriend, you know. And the truth is, I go for what I want. And what I want, is you. Please, say yes."

* * *

Cloud frowned at Leon as the two watched Axel and Roxas' exchange from a covert corner of the kitchen. This was possibly the closest a demon had gotten to one of his little brothers…and he didn't like it.

"I'm going to go over there and kick his ass." Cloud decided conversationally, nodding determinedly and making a move to go over to their table. Leon rolled his eyes and grabbed his shoulder, pulling his best friend back to their hidden position.

"Oh, no you don't. I need him, remember? If I can just get a little evidence of him—"

Cloud butted in before Leon could finish. "Evidence of him _what_? Killing my little brother? _I don't think so, pal._"

Leon rolled his eyes, but forced himself to take a deep breath. Slowly, like he was talking to a child, he recited, "The creed of all Huntsmen is to protect the safety of all, above the needs of the few."

"Put your cub scout manual away, Leon." Cloud snapped in annoyance, turning away to glare at the demon again. _Un_believable! He gave that guy Axel _one_ rule, and immediately, he broke it.

Leon tried a different tactic. He gently ruffled Cloud's spikes—a move that was known to turn the guy submissive—and smiled pleadingly. As expected, Cloud's eyes slid shut on their own accord as pleasant warmth tugged the corners of his mouth upwards.

"If I can catch this guy in the act, we'll be able to prove that demons exist and maybe law enforcement will finally get involved. And…" He paused, his expression growing dark and serious. "If he hurts Roxas, I'll kill him. Personally."

Cloud sighed, looking away from him with a slight pout. As it wasn't a very common expression on the man, it looked quite comical. "You never let me win arguments. You always cheat."

Leon shrugged, feeling that it was safe to let Cloud go now—which he had to admit was something he was reluctant to do—and playfully punched him in the arm. "Only because you let me."

"I swear, you and Sephiroth are so similar sometimes, it's amazing. If only you'd quit this Huntsmen stuff, maybe you two could actually be friends." Cloud mulled, leading Leon back into the cooking area of the kitchen.

The rush of annoyance at the mention of Sephiroth was so intense that he had to focus on Cloud washing his hands to avoid punching the nearest wall. "We could _never_ be friends. And I would never quit the Huntsmen. I'm the Head Huntsman! How could I just quit, leaving people all over the world susceptible to evil?"

Cloud rolled his eyes as he wiped his hands, moving to put on some gloves. "Look, I've heard it all before. But as the neutral party here, I have to say…no one is really winning. You kill some of Sephiroth's people. They kill some of ours. We all die! And most importantly, we all lose."

Leon grumbled something that Cloud couldn't hear, but he just shrugged it off and began to cook some of his famous chocolate cake, one of the only things known to man that calmed a raging Leon down. He was the only friend left that he could trust with his secret—that being that he was dating a demon—and he was _not_ going to lose him. So…let there be cake.

* * *

Roxas had definitely felt some vibes that someone was watching him, and there was no doubt in his mind that it was Cloud. So, summoning his courage, he invited Axel to his apartment, willing himself not to blush. Of course the redhead agreed, and, when Cloud was busy baking cakes, they snuck outside.

As they passed by the spot that Roxas normally prayed at, he sent a quick little thank-you to Zeus. _Great choice!_

Axel noticed him staring at the stars and nudged him, smirking as he noted, "You really like astronomy, huh?"

Roxas tried to ignore the rush of blood to his cheeks. He couldn't very well tell him that he only watched the stars every night to beg Zeus for a man! Instead, he hid his flustered state with a snort. "Yeah, right…I failed astronomy class freshman year. Stars aren't my thing."

Axel seemed to take that in consideration, and Roxas fell silent, hoping beyond hope that the man would buy it. Finally, to Roxas' relief, he changed the subject. "How old are you, Roxas?"

Easy one. "I just turned nineteen this month."

To his complete and utter surprise, Axel gave him a glittering smile. "Happy birthday."

Holy…Roxas' heart thudded in his chest almost painfully and suddenly he felt a little overheated. Sexiest. Birthday. Wish. _Ever_.

"Shut up, it already passed." He managed to bark, quickly throwing his hood over his head to hide his blush. "Besides, you didn't say how old _you_ were."

Axel hummed and glanced down at him with a slightly pained smile, an expression Roxas didn't quite understand. "I'll be twenty-one by the end of this year…kid."

Roxas frowned up at him. Was he trying to be condescending? "Kid?"

"What," Axel purred, giving him a sexy smirk, "Would you like me to moan something else during sex?"

Roxas' cheeks reddened—clearly Axel was trying to get him to flirt a bit, but he shook his head at him, pointing out with a smirk of his own, "Do you really want to be moaning out the word _kid_ during sex?"

Axel furrowed his brow, and the expression was so unnatural on him, Roxas couldn't bite back a laugh. Suddenly, Axel was laughing, and just like that, Roxas was actually being himself with a hot, painfully sexy man.

In an act of good timing, they arrived at Roxas' apartment just as the last strands of laughter died down. Suddenly, Roxas felt nervous. Jeez…he'd never done this kind of thing before. What if he did something wrong? What if he was—oh shit—actually _bad_ in bed?

Axel watched him pleasantly as Roxas struggled to open the door, trying to ignore the redhead's gaze on him. To get him to stop, he muttered, "There are more interesting things to look at, you know."

The redhead laughed. "Like what? These fascinating numbers that hang over the door? Whatever could they mean?"

Roxas grinned. Fine. He was funny. "Okay, good point."

With a grunt, Roxas managed to open the door—the lock got stuck sometimes, he informed Axel—to his apartment, slowly walking inside and standing in the center. He grinned a bit ruefully at Axel. "This is it. Welcome to my mansion."

Axel smiled as he gazed around the apartment, taking in the decoration choices, the framed pictures, everything. Finally, his eyes locked with Roxas, a friendly tone to them covering a hungry intensity…for now.

"It's nice. Now, Roxas, I think we both know that any fucking that goes on between the two of us is going to be nothing short of phenomenal, but what I need to ask you is this: do you have any metal piercings…down there?"

Roxas grew redder than the apple sitting on his counter. _Shit_…fucking…genital piercings…"Uh, um, n-no I don't."

With that out of the way, the friendly expression on Axel's face completely vanished to give way to deep desire. Lowly, he asked one last question. "You still in?"

"Of course I'm still—" Roxas began to snap, but before he could get the sentence out, his back was against a wall and Axel's lips were pressed against his own.

Oh sweet, sweet Zeus. Axel could _kiss_. Closed-mouth kissing had never really appealed to Roxas much…but this…this was so sensual and intimate! Axel's lips felt wonderful, and the redhead was moving them in such a way that the only thing Roxas could feel was need.

Just as he got used to that, Axel's tongue decided to insistently stroke his lips, making Roxas moan and open his mouth almost immediately. His tongue tentatively leaned out to touch Axel's, and Axel responded by groaning and thrusting his tongue in deeper, almost begging to be touched even more forcefully. Roxas' tongue obliged.

As their tongues danced, Axel's hand snaked down his body—inciting pleasured gasps and breathy pants from Roxas—before stopping rather assertively at the treasure.

Green eyes gazed questionably into blue, and when Roxas gazed back at him, something in his eyes must have answered the question, because suddenly and wondrously, Axel's hand slid into his pants.

_Oh god, it feels so good. _Roxas writhed shamelessly as Axel's hands kneaded the flesh underneath his boxers. Sharp green eyes watched his responses predatorily, eating up every moan and cry of ecstasy with a forceful kiss. He pulled away to suck on Roxas' tongue. Hard.

"Axel." Roxas moaned, finally able to get out the man's name. If he even was a man. Honestly, the way the older redhead looked right now, anyone in their right mind would doubt the species of this guy. He just looked so…lustful. Like he would kill anyone if they tried to stop this from happening. Which, of course, wouldn't happen. Roxas made sure of that.

Nimble fingers rubbed at Axel's erection but before the pants and underwear could come off completely, thus ensuring a night of pleasure that both of them would never forget, Axel suddenly pulled away, easily breaking the hold that Roxas had on him. "Roxas…wait."

Roxas scowled. What. The. Fuck. "Hey, I wasn't done."

Axel grinned in that sly way he always did when he was amused. But there was something off about it. There was an underlying need that flashed in his green irises as he regarded Roxas. "I know. But I don't think you're ready for this."

Roxas glared pointedly down at his arousal that threatened to rip his pants in half. Axel followed his eyes, grin growing wider and his eyes growing darker.

"I think I'm ready." Roxas insisted, reaching for Axel again. But the redhead easily evaded his eager arms, instead wrapping his own hands around Roxas' wrists. Restraining him.

"Maybe we should just try being friends first." Axel suggested casually, his tone unable to mask the regret clear on his face. "You know, hanging out and not having sex?"

Roxas narrowed his eyes suspiciously. What? That sure as hell wasn't what he was saying a second ago, what with all that bullshit about this being fate or destiny or whatever. Why was this guy playing with him like this? It wasn't the least bit funny.

"I like having sex." Roxas whined pathetically—lying about his experience and folding his arms, trying to pretend that his arousal wasn't yelling at him to get back to business. "Friends can have sex, can't they?"

Axel had the nerve to laugh like he was having the time of his life. "Not if you want to be _my_ friend."

Roxas felt his annoyance explode into anger at that. Was this amusing to him? "You know what? Fuck you, then! I am one _hot_ piece of ass, and if you don't want it, then your loss!"

"My loss indeed." Axel sighed, absently running a hand down said ass. Roxas resisted the urge to tackle the man (he was feeling him up, for goodness sake!) and instead pulled his hoodie back on, taking care to arrange it in a way that _didn't_ look like he was just rolling around with some sexy stranger.

He growled lowly to himself in sexual frustration as he opened the door, preparing to storm out. But Axel, in a movement so fast that Roxas swore he flew or something, was suddenly behind him, whispering in his ear, "Drive safe…friend."

Roxas stiffly nodded, pausing for a moment to discreetly inhale Axel's wonderful scent, before exhaling sharply and practically running out the door. If he had stayed just a second longer, he was pretty damn sure he'd end up jumping the man. And there was nothing sexy about that kind of weakness.

Axel shut the door behind him, cursing to himself. God damn it, why did his morals choose now to start working again? All he had to do was sleep with Roxas, and the blonde would be his forever. But just as they had been getting into it, a weird feeling had struck him.

Something like…a conscience.

Fuck.

There was just something about almost seeing Roxas in his underwear that made it decide to speak up. A little voice had whispered, _"He'll never have a real life with you."_

Talk about a cock block.

It would be easy if that conscience would just die like Axel had been trying to kill it for years. But no…he just _had_ to give Roxas a choice in the matter of eternity. Now he risked never finding a mate in time.

Besides, who the fuck would want to sleep with anyone but Roxas?

Axel quickly shook his head, shaking off the lustful parts of him that were cursing out his conscience. No. It was good that he stopped. He wasn't going to ruin the kid's life like that. Being with a demon was a lifetime commitment; one that he didn't want Roxas having to make. He probably had dreams. Ambitions. Axel would just be ruining that.

But hell, if he didn't want to die, he was going to have to mate with someone other than Roxas; someone he didn't want to sleep with and someone he probably wouldn't like as much as him.

Well, damn. Maybe talking to the Strife boys wasn't such a good idea after all. Jeez, he almost mated with one of them! Did his mind just conveniently forget that they were completely off limits? He really was an idiot sometimes.

Axel ran a hand through his red spikes, his mind wandering back to their kissing. Wow. That was the only way to describe that. They obviously had some serious sexual chemistry. However…friendship was the only thing he was going to get now and he needed to be okay with that.

To his surprise, the door suddenly swung open. Axel blinked as Roxas stood in the doorway, blushing adorably and scratching the back of his head in clear embarrassment. Axel titled his head to the side in curiosity. "Hey…what's up?"

"This is my house." Roxas said bluntly, despite his blushing. Axel looked around for a second before mentally smacking his head. Duh. Well, the fact that Roxas forgot it was apartment was cute. On Axel, on the other hand, it probably seemed creepy.

He laughed outright to diffuse the tension. "Oh, whoops. I guess we both got caught up in the moment, huh?"

Roxas started to laugh before he remembered what just happened. His wonderful smile immediately fell and instead of chuckling, he bit out "Okay, get the hell out now."

Axel wasn't deterred from the kid's attitude. Still laughing at himself, he winked at Roxas as he passed by and floated through the doorway. Once he was in the hallway—and still hadn't heard the door shut—he turned back around to give Roxas a thoughtful look.

Roxas, startled at being caught staring, looked everywhere but at him. "W-What is it?"

"We should do…friend stuff. I have the new Halo. Got a 360?" Axel asked expectantly. He knew Roxas had a 360. He also knew Roxas was going to want to hang with him. Friendship was going to have to do in place of a relationship.

Roxas was quiet for so long that Axel began to doubt himself, but suddenly, he heard a soft murmur of, "You have Halo 4?"

Axel's worry melted away as fast as it had come. He smiled confidently. "Yep. I'm sure your brother will have me working during the day…and you have classes…so how about this time sometime next weekend?"

Roxas frowned at his shoes. He didn't really want to hang out with Axel as friends…the best cure for his infatuation was probably distance…but it _was_ Halo 4…that wasn't even out in stores yet!

"Fine." Roxas answered simply before shutting the door quickly. A very loud, muffled "Meet me at The Place Friday night" reached him from the other side of the door. Axel smiled. He most certainly would.

* * *

The next morning, Axel got a very interesting wake-up call.

"_Get up, you dumb fuck! Wake up before I kill you—so help me, I will do it, Axel!" _

Axel groaned as he registered the voice, stretching his arms above his head and meeting actual flesh instead of just air. He cracked open one eye, curious. Zexion?

As he thought, Zexion glared down at him—a book sitting open on his lap as he sat, perched on the headboard of Axel's bed—with a murderous expression on his face. Axel woke up a bit at that. What could he have done that was so terribly bad that it required such an early wake-up call? "Whaz wron?"

Zexion ignored his sleepy slurring and turned the book upside down so Axel could read the words. Without waiting for him to do so, Zexion slammed the book closed and shook his head at him, explaining through clenched teeth, "You just _had_ to go after the three humans we're not allowed to have. With all of the billions of humans in this realm, you want these three?"

Axel grinned a bit, still sleepy. "S'not three I want…just one."

Zexion dropped the book on Axel's head, causing the latter to grunt, and got up from the bed, lifting his arm to summon a portal. Frustrated, he snapped, "If you aren't going to take this seriously, I won't even bother to warn you…"

Warn him…?

Axel jumped up, rushing over to Zexion to keep him there. In his sleepy haste, he stumbled over his own long legs and ended up tackling the much smaller man to the ground. Wincing, Axel chanced a look at his best friend. Shit…he did not look happy.

"Axel…so help me, I will use this book against you…" Zexion spat dangerously through clenched teeth. Axel chuckled nervously and quickly helped his friend up. That book terrified the shit out of him. Zexion's demon powers were scary as fuck.

"Sorry. So, um, you said you needed to warn me?" Axel asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He tried to melt Zexion's icy exterior with a charming smile. Zexion glared at his obvious attempt at softening him up…before he fell for it.

"Fine. I'll tell you. Demyx said that he heard some of the demons talking—"

Axel immediately cut in. "Wait, where was he? You know Dem…"

"He was at that ridiculous bar he likes with Luxord and Lexaeus. So they can vouch for him. Anyway, they heard some of the lower level demons—like scum level, Axel, so there was no reason for them to lie—talking about some strange, masked man going around paying demons to kill a redheaded half-blood." Zexion explained anxiously, beginning to pace back and forth. "I'm really worried, Axel. This is very, very bad."

Axel smiled hopefully, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Maybe they're talking about a different redhead."

Zexion gave him a scathing look. "You're the only redhead in the Succubus Society. And if there is, by chance, another redhead demon walking around that I don't know about, he certainly isn't a half-blood."

Axel finally dropped the pretense and allowed his slight fear to show on his face. "Zex…I'm…"

"You do not intend to roll over and die, do you?" Zexion interrupted harshly. "If you plan to fight…well then, don't say your goodbyes."

Rightly chastised, Axel nodded and fell silent. Shit…he knew it was a risk to get involved with the Strife brothers, but he didn't _actually_ think it would cost him his life!

"So who do you think we're dealing with here?" Axel asked Zexion seriously, getting up and sitting down at his desk. He opened his laptop urgently, pulling up the Succubus Society database. He was decent at hacking and was generally able to pull up basic information on different demons without much trouble. Maybe it would finally come in handy.

Zexion shook his head impatiently. "You think I'd be standing here talking to you if I had any clue? No, we need more time."

"Time?" Axel repeated, harsher than he intended to. "There are a lot of things I have, Zex, but _time_ is not one of them!"

Zexion glared at him in annoyance. "There's no one that knows that better than me. If you had just mated with a human instead of dicking around with the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Axel narrowed his eyes at him before sighing and shaking his head. There was absolutely no point in getting mad at Zex. He was right, after all. He brought this on himself. Turning back to the computer, Axel searched for any profiles that noted any violent tendencies. Unfortunately for him, most demons exhibited violent tendencies on the daily. Frustrated, he glanced at the clock…and noticed that it was already one o'clock.

Shit! He was supposed to be begging Cloud for a job three hours ago. "Damn, I got to go."

"What? Where?!" Zexion exclaimed, exasperated wide eyes watching Axel throw on the first clothes he could find on the floor that didn't smell like ass. "Don't tell me you're chasing after the Strife boys, even with all of this going on."

Axel tossed him an apologetic grin, rushing into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Around his toothbrush, he called out, "Sowwy! Juff canth leaf em' awone!"

"You are the biggest idiot I've ever met and I don't understand why we're best friends." Zexion stated shortly, getting up and making himself a portal. "Please do not contact me in the afterlife."

Axel hopped out of the bathroom, gave Zexion a quick kiss on the forehead, shouted out a fast—"I promise I'll be more careful, Zex!"—and ran into the portal, changing its destination as soon as it closed.

Zexion stared after Axel moodily. Redhead nuisance stole his portal.

* * *

Leon watched Cloud give orders in the kitchen of The Place lustfully, unable to rid the image of his best friend giving orders in another place…his bed.

It was humiliating but…Leon really, really, _really_ wanted to screw his best friend into any surface he could find. Counters, beds, floors…damn, he'd screw him anytime anyplace.

But Cloud was taken by Sephiroth. And Leon was taken by duty. So there was no way that could ever happen…right? Almost in response, the doors in the restaurant opened loudly, gaining not only Leon's attention, but everyone else's too.

It was that redheaded demon from yesterday. The one that had gotten the slip on Leon when he was devouring Cloud's special cakes, distracted. That may have been yesterday…but _today_, he was definitely going to keep track of him.

Unfortunately, many of The Place's patrons were swarming the dangerous man, clamoring for his attention. Leon rolled his eyes. Most demons had a unique sexiness to them, but even _he_ had to admit that Axel exuded an extra dose of sex in every movement. It made it hard to protect civilians when everything about the demon drew them in. Leon hated that.

Fortunately, Axel politely shooed them away and headed straight for Cloud, passing by Leon so closely he could literally feel the demonic aura of the man. Holding his tongue, he just frowned and retreated to a nearby booth. There was no use blowing his cover. As far as this demon knew, he was just a friend of Cloud's.

But oh, did he plan on busting this guy out! Once everyone knew about the true nature of this man, demons would never walk safely in this realm again.

* * *

Axel made a beeline for Cloud once he pushed past the groupies, insistent on getting the job he told Roxas he already had. He may be a demon, but the last thing he wanted to be was a liar. Besides, he had a feeling that he was going to be spending a lot of time around the Strife brothers. Might as well earn a profit instead of having to rob people, which is what he'd been doing prior to this.

Hey, just because he was allowed to be in this realm didn't mean the Succubus Society gave a rat's ass about living fees.

Cloud was busy barking orders to the staff, so Axel politely waited…directly behind him. As soon as the blonde finished updating the chefs with the latest orders, he turned around and—

"What." Cloud stated, not asked, as he regarded Axel blankly. Not at all surprised by Axel's presence, he briefly explained, "I can sense when demons are around."

Hiding his shock, he cleared his throat and cut to the chase. "Cloud, I'd like to work here."

Cloud gave him a curt "No" and brushed past him, taking off his apron as he walked away from the kitchen. Like a determined stray puppy, Axel followed, talking a mile a minute in an attempt to sway him. "The humans here practically fawn all over me! I'll get this place bustling and busy every single day, and that includes holidays, which tend to be extreme. You know, either super busy or super empty? Anyway, the point is…"

"The point is," Cloud interrupted, opening the door to his office and leaving it open for Axel to enter, "You broke the first and only rule of The Place."

Axel scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Oh yeah…there was a rule, wasn't there? What was it again? Something like…"Don't interact with the humans, right?"

Cloud didn't even look up as he went about writing a new menu for the next week. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

Direct persuasion wasn't going to work with Cloud Strife, and really, Axel should have realized that sooner. The mate of Sephiroth would obviously be trained to spot bullshit from a mile away. No…he was going to have to be smart about this. He was going to have to try a different tactic.

"So…" He began casually, "When's the last time you've seen Sephiroth, huh?"

Cloud's poker face was excellent…but the longing flash in those blue eyes at the mention of his mate couldn't be contained. It was quick, but not quick enough to elude Axel's notice. Not noticing his mistake, Cloud tried to act disinterested. "Not sure. What do you care?"

"You get me a job, I could afford to hire a guy I know who pulls strings with the Council. They could get Sephiroth an unlimited visa. He could be here by the end of the week." Axel explained, trying to play his cards intelligently. The deal wasn't exactly accurate because it didn't depend on money…Axel knew Zexion, who had caught the eye of half-demon Demyx who was very skilled in creating fake visas. Not a single one of his fakes had been caught; they always worked. The Council didn't keep track of how many they approved, so it was a relatively low-risk endeavor. If he could convince Demyx to hook him up with one, he could keep his end of the bargain.

Cloud broke character and bit his lip, letting him know that Axel had actually managed to worm his way past the blonde's very strong protective boundaries. Still, he wasn't sure he'd made the catch yet. Blue eyes were pensive but also stubborn. This could go both ways.

Finally, Cloud looked up at him, a stoic expression hiding his emotions effectively this time. Just when Axel thought Cloud was going to reject him, the blonde stiffly said, "You have a deal, Axel" with slow reluctance.

_Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooal!_

Axel tried not to smirk too wide. "Great. Where do you want me?"

Cloud grimaced at Axel's teasingly suggestive tone and opened his desk drawer. He fished out an empty name tag and a black sharpie and tossed it to him in annoyance. "Here, it's your name tag. From now on, you're officially my bitch—I mean, my intern."

* * *

One week had passed since the "Axel fiasco" and Roxas was still just as bitter as he was when it happened. Damn it…the first guy he'd actually wanted to sleep with turned out to just want his friendship. This was just his luck. Not that he was surprised. Not many men found Roxas sexually attractive.

He chewed on his lip nervously. Tonight he and Axel were supposed to hang out as buddies. Just buddies, nothing more. Admittedly, he wasn't too keen on hanging out with someone who made him ache…

For the past week, Roxas had been dreaming of Axel. Sexy Axel touching him…rubbing him…wrapping those irresistible lips around him and sucking him…

Oh, jeez. He needed a cold glass of water.

Roxas leaned over and poked the back of Cloud's head lazily. Roxas, Cloud and Sora were all sitting in Cloud's office in The Place, supposed to be counting the cash from the day. None of them seemed to be in a working mood, however.

Cloud batted his hand away grumpily. "What do you want, you annoying child?"

"Water." Roxas whined, poking him again just to be a nuisance. "I don't want to get it myself."

"I'll take a coke." Sora chimed in, glancing over at them from his position on Cloud's desk. "Cherry, if you have it."

"That'll be a no and a hell no." Cloud snapped, shutting the box of money with a loud pop. "Now that I, no thanks to you two, have counted the money for the morning, I'm getting back to work to give Axel a break. Where are your little friends? Make _them_ fetch you water and coke."

Cloud sure was irritable today. Roxas cocked his head to the side, regarding him curiously. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

Sora grinned at Roxas, clasping his hands together in excitement. "He's just nervous about his big date tonight! I heard him talking to Leon about it."

Roxas gasped and swirled to examine Cloud's face. Sure enough, their big brother was blushing crimson. He found a similar smile to Sora's brightening his face. "Cloud's got a beau!"

Cloud growled at them and promptly left the room. Sora and Roxas stared at each other in worry for a second—did they go too far?—before bursting out in excited giggles. This was the first time they were hearing about a man in Cloud's life! Their brother was notoriously private about his love life…this was beyond amazing.

Sora's face suddenly fell as a thought struck him. "Riku probably has a hot date tonight, too."

Roxas shook his head adamantly. No way. It was obvious to everyone that Riku was just as crazy about Sora as the brunette was about him. Well, obvious to everyone but Sora. "That's stupid. Just because he couldn't come out with you tonight doesn't mean he has a date."

Sora sighed, running a hand through his spikes. "I really hope not." His expression hardened. "He better not!"

Roxas snorted. And what did Sora plan to do if he was? Sometimes he wondered how well Sora would be able to handle Riku if they ever did get together.

Cloud's voice calling for him from the restaurant interrupted his admittedly mean thoughts. "Roxas! Hayner's looking for you, thank goodness!"

Ignoring Cloud's relief, Roxas trotted out of the office and across the restaurant to where Hayner, Pence and Olette sat at their usual table. All three faces beamed at him.

"Hey guys! I didn't know you were dropping by tonight!" Roxas exclaimed happily, sliding into the booth next to Hayner, making the boy flush in pleasure. Hayner grinned back at him.

"We wanted to see you. You've been in a sulk this whole week! We thought we'd take you out." Hayner explained excitedly while Pence and Olette cheesed at him, unable to contain their excitement either.

"We're taking you to see El Torro in a live struggle match!" Olette squealed, failing to keep it a secret. At Hayner's glare, she squeaked, "It just came out, I swear!"

Roxas' heart burst in utter joy. El Torro—live?! To see a live struggle match at the caliber of El Torro, who was only _the_ coolest struggle player in the expert division, was a rare opportunity. Only a fool would turn down an invitation like that!

Hayner smirked proudly. "I know a guy who knows a guy…my connections never fall through."

"Except the time when we were stranded at the train station because your 'connections' suddenly reneged on your deal to get us into a first class car, and none of us could afford paying for seating ourselves." Pence babbled, smiling at him. Hayner growled and with a dramatic scoff, ran a hand through his over-gelled head.

"That was different." At their disbelieving stares, he added, completely disgruntled, "You should have heard the things that guy wanted me to do in exchange for those seats! Our definitions of 'a happy ending' are completely different!"

Roxas grinned, feeling better than he had in days. Nothing like old friends to make a guy feel better. "I love you guys. You're the best!"

They all beamed at him, basking in Roxas' compliment. Affection from Roxas was super rare, so the smallest amount they received, they milked. Hayner, of course, looked the happiest. But his happy expression was the first to fall when a long shadow fell over the table, belonging to a tall, admittedly-sexy redheaded waiter.

Roxas gaped as Axel stood by their table, smirking down at him in particular. When he could finally find his voice, he only managed to croak, "What are you doing?"

Axel gave him an odd look, reaching into his black pants and pulling out a notepad. "I'm taking your orders." He responded dryly. "But I'm thrilled that you're so happy to see me."

Roxas blushed, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, I _am_ happy to see you."

It was true. It had been a whole week since he'd last seen him and already he had felt a strange emptiness creeping up. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but it kind of felt like pulling two magnets apart that were dying to be next to each other. _Anxious_. That was it! He'd felt anxious without Axel.

Which was pathetic since he'd _just_ met the guy! If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Axel did _not_ feel the same. How could he?

Hayner was watching the two of them intently, growing more irritated by the second. When no introductions seemed in sight, he gritted out, "Well I'm Hayner, Roxas' best friend, in case you were wondering."

Axel reluctantly tore his eyes from Roxas' face to study Hayner critically. What, did this little punk have a thing for Roxas, too? It wouldn't surprise him. Roxas had a strange but attractive appeal. Strong, but cute. Independent, but also needy. It was an intoxicating, addicting mixture.

Because he was a half-demon and a full-time dick, Axel couldn't resist poking fun at his new competitor. Grinning, he answered loudly, "Well that's too bad, because _I'm_ about to be his new best friend."

Four mouths dropped open simultaneously, almost making Axel laugh out loud. Guess this crowd couldn't take a joke…

The moment Axel finished his sentence, Roxas knew this was not going to end well. Hayner was typically pretty protective over his best friend status, and once he felt threatened, there would be no stopping him. Ugh, stupid Axel! Why the hell would he say that?

Besides, if Roxas had his way, they were going to be much more than best friends…

"Who the fuck are you to tell me that, huh?" Hayner shouted, standing up quickly and knocking over his drink. Water poured into Roxas' lap, staining his crotch area and making it look like he just pissed himself. Lovely.

Hayner was too riled up to notice, busy shouting at Axel, but the redhead himself took note immediately. With a devilish twinkle in his eye, he leaned down and smoothly pulled Roxas out of his seat, firmly grasping his elbow.

Roxas tried not to shiver at the contact—contact that reminded him of what they almost did last time they'd met—and instead demanded, "What do you think you're doing, Axel?"

"I'm cleaning you up." Axel replied suggestively, loud enough for everyone at the table to hear. "We'll be back…hopefully not dirtier than when we'd started."

The last thing Roxas saw was the three shocked faces of his friends before he was yanked away from the table and led to the bathroom at the back of the restaurant.

* * *

"El Torro, huh?" Axel repeated distractedly as he sat on a sink in the cramped men's bathroom, watching Roxas slowly rub a paper towel across his crotch in an attempt to dry off. Little tease…he knew what he was doing. "What's that? A burrito?"

Roxas laughed and it was the most wonderful sound Axel had ever heard. Today Roxas was different from the first time they'd met. It looked like the kid was completely at ease with him now. Good. Maybe it would help them to become friends faster.

And the faster they became friends, the less Roxas would come on to him. Not that he was complaining too much about it.

"El Torro is only the greatest struggle player there ever was! He's so cool, Axel! And I'm going to see him—tonight!" Roxas exclaimed, and to the surprise of both them, he spun around in pure happiness.

The chibi in Axel gushed and practically fainted over the cuteness. Roxas was so adorable! But as he was internally squeezing himself, another thought struck him. Wait…tonight?

"Oh…tonight?" Axel asked, feigning indifference. "That's cool, I'll just make plans then with some other people. You know, I have a big social circle, so…I'll find something."

That was a lie if he'd ever heard one. Axel was a half-demon, which meant that most pure-blooded demons normally looked down on him. The only reason he had their respect now was because he fought with the Organization; no one would dare cross them. Anyway, the only real friends he had were Zexion and Namine, and the two of them were down in the Succubus Society.

Still, the last thing he needed was for Roxas Strife to feel sorry for him. That would be too damn lame! He was supposed to be the cool, badass guy…his image was all he had!

Roxas squinted at him for a second, confusion crossing his features, before realization finally dawned on him. They had plans! "Shit, Axel! I completely spaced! We're supposed to hang out tonight, aren't we?"

The kid forgot? Damn…maybe he wasn't that special to Roxas after all. He tried for nonchalance. "Don't worry about it. Shit happens."

Roxas looked absolutely heartbroken. "No, Axel, I said we'd hang, so we'll hang. I'll just…I'll tell the gang I can't go see El Torro."

What, and make him feel guilty the whole night? No way. "No, no, no. You _have_to go see El Torro. He's your dream or whatever. Go. Seriously. Maybe we'll see each other around."

Roxas still looked crestfallen, even as he nodded and mumbled, "Yeah…around."

Feeling like an idiot, Axel patted Roxas on the head and walked past him out the bathroom and towards the kitchen where he was supposed to be working for just twenty more minutes until he got the whole night off. For some reason, he felt really disappointed. Roxas Strife was fun; a lot more fun than he could have guessed just by watching him from afar. Any time he _didn't_ get to spend with him felt like cruel and unusual punishment.

Roxas watched Axel walk away, his good mood gone faster than sea salt ice cream on a hot day. How could he forget about Axel like that? This night had _only_ been on his mind 24/7 for the past week! And tickets to see El Torro had somehow erased all of that in an instant! No wonder Axel had looked hurt just now!

Would he ever stop being bitchy, cold Roxas around hot guys?!

Hayner suddenly strode over to where Roxas stood frozen wearing the biggest scowl he'd ever seen. Great. Now he was going to have to spend all night with a grumpy Hayner.

"Are you still coming with us? Or are you staying here with that freak?" He spat, crossing his arms and looking everywhere but at him. "I don't give a shit what you do."

Roxas shot him a disbelieving look. Yeah, right. Very convincing, Hayner. "Is that so?"

"Yes." Hayner replied quickly, glaring at a painting on the wall next to them. Roxas felt a fleeting stab of anger before it simmered down into amusement. Hayner was just being pissy about what Axel said. No need to start any shit over it.

"If you don't care what I do, I guess I'll just stay with Axel. At least that 'freak' cares about hanging out with me." Roxas mulled, pretending to be hurt. "I guess he really is my new best friend."

Hayner stared at him, stunned. Roxas could literally see the panic beginning to spread across his face as two rosy red spots stained his cheeks. Aw, now he felt bad.

"Kidding!" Roxas exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "Don't cry or anything!"

Hayner sighed in relief, placing his hand over his heart. "That's so not funny, Rox. I thought you were serious."

"You'll always be my best friend Hayner. But just so you know, I'm allowed to have other friends." Roxas chided him gently, putting an arm around him amicably. No matter how paranoid Hayner was, he'd always be the same kid that had offered him his first sea salt popsicle in second grade.

"Come on, let's go, Rox." Olette and Pence suddenly said in his ear, laughing excitedly. "Time for El Torro!"

* * *

Axel watched Roxas and his little protective friends leave the restaurant with their wide smiles and their good old fashioned righteousness. Ugh…humans…

Grumbling to himself, he walked over to the last occupied table that was being used by a large family of twelve. They had been sitting in The Place for an hour just talking the night away instead of ordering their food. Now that it was closing hours, they were ready to order the most time-consuming, elaborate meals on the menu.

He sighed wistfully. Sometimes he missed being in the Succubus Society, where a demon could use his powers against people like this. If a demon tried that shit here, it was the first ticket out! Sucking it up, he forced a cheerful smile on his face as he served the family their meals. A quick glance back at the kitchen showed a simmering Cloud and an even angrier kitchen staff.

"How is everything? Do you all need anything?" Axel asked them politely, his eyes darkening in annoyance. They were all ignoring him. Scumbags! "Anything at all?"

"You're still here?" One lady in the party snapped at him impatiently, waving him off like he was a bothersome house fly. "We're trying to eat!"

_And I'm trying not to eat you. _

Axel clenched his fists and turned around. Just walk away. But right as he reached the kitchen, a man from the table called out to him obnoxiously, "Hey, firecrotch! We need you back at the table!"

_Firecrotch? _Oh heeeeell no.

Axel growled and prepared to unleash his demon side, but Cloud hopped from over the counter to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. Sputtering, Axel turned to the Strife man in utter exasperation. "You can't honestly be trying to stop me from entering my demon form! They deserve to have the shit beaten out of them!"

Cloud shook his head and responded slowly, like he was talking to a small child, "They deserve to live, Axel."

"They deserve to be _eaten_!" Axel snapped back, pushing Cloud aside—gently, of course, since he would never harm a Strife—and stalking over to the table. But just as he was about to reach it and rip those humans a new one, a menacing, cold presence made his spine tingle.

Shit, what was that?

He narrowed his eyes as the whole place darkened, suspending its supernatural inhabitants into absolute fear. Axel knew this feeling. It felt like there was another demon was in the room. But it wasn't just any little incubus. It was a _powerful_ one.

Axel unconsciously stepped in front of Cloud, looking around for a portal that would indicate someone was coming. _Nothing_. He couldn't see any portals at all! Then what was this strange, sickly feeling?

Leon sprinted from the bar to take his place beside Cloud, protectively splaying an arm across his chest. If Axel wasn't so freaked out at the moment, he would've rolled his eyes. Just fucking unbelievable. This guy would do _anything_ for a chance to touch what was rightfully Sephiroth's.

Cloud abruptly glared up at him. Oh, right. Cloud could sense when someone was thinking about Sephiroth. Axel scratched the back of his head sheepishly. _Sorry_.

One moment the three of them were posing defensively, waiting to be attacked while the loud table of twelve continued being obnoxious…and the next, a large, terrifying figure was towering above them, glaring coolly down at all three gaping figures.

Cloud was the first to step forward, easily breaking the protective hold Axel and Leon had on him. Wide, completely startled blue eyes stared up into impassive cyan.

"S...Sephiroth…" Cloud breathed, swallowing audibly to combat his suddenly dry mouth. "Hi."

Sephiroth, the absolutely terrifying demon that had rendered them helpless with just his _entrance_, gazed down at the blonde with an unexpectedly wary expression. His cyan eyes scanned Cloud's face inquisitively, even as he replied softly, "Hello."

Leon, on the other hand, looked like he was about to blow a gasket. A shaking hand was thrust into smooth brown hair as he spat venomously, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

Sephiroth's expression grew impassive once more as he appraised Leon like he was the gum underneath his shoe. Chillingly, he responded, "Silence, human. It was Cloud who sent for me."

At that moment, the table of twelve began to grow impatient. The same man who had called Axel 'firecrotch' stood up and shouted over to them, "Hey! We're not paying you to talk, we're paying you to serve us. Firecrotch, these meals are gross. Take 'em all back and give us everything off of the desert menu instead!"

The long, collective groan that came from the kitchen could probably be heard even from outside. Axel gritted his teeth. Damn it all…he wanted to eat them so much right now! But with Sephiroth in the room…and Cloud…and Leon…it would just be way too risky.

Fortunately, Sephiroth didn't seem to take well to those humans, either.

The intimidating demon let out a piercing, outraged roar that shook the whole restaurant. Then, before anyone could even think about blinking, he pulled out his extremely long, shinning sword, pointing it at the man that had been taunting Axel for the past ten minutes. In a voice portentously low, he promised, "I will kill you. Leave now or it will happen tonight."

Twelve running people went flying out the door. Unfortunately, so did the rest of the staff, leaving just Sephiroth, Cloud, Axel and Leon to stand in the empty restaurant.

After a moment of silence, Axel coughed to break the ice. Well…this was awkward. "Maybe next time we can eat them together, eh, old 'Roth?"

Pointedly ignoring him—and that inappropriate and ridiculous nickname—Sephiroth gave all of his attention back to his mate, who was looking everywhere but at him now. The cold, normally unfeeling demon slowly reached out and ruffled Cloud's spikes. Cloud groaned and melted on the spot.

Axel grinned. So cute! So this was what Sephiroth got to see that others didn't. Cloud had a cute, pliant side to him, eh? How adorable of him! Maybe Roxas had one, too.

Leon apparently didn't think it was so cute. Stomping his foot like an immature five year old, he shouted, "There's a code, Sephiroth. You can't just come up in here whenever you feel like it! Your presence naturally attracts other demons, remember? You're too powerful to walk freely in this realm!"

Almost angrily, he quickly turned to Cloud. The blonde blinked back at him. "What?"

"How could you call him here? You know the dangers. Besides, you said you'd always tell me when you were going to summon him!"Leon argued, a bit of hurt creeping into his voice. "Look, I know you don't love me like you love him, but don't you care at all?"

Cloud's mouth dropped. "Of course I care about you, Leon!" He insisted, sympathetically reaching over to touch him. "You have to know that!"

Axel shook his head. Smooth Leon. Real smooth. But just as he thought Leon had managed to sway Cloud back to his side, Sephiroth crooked his finger, his face contorted in utter annoyance. At the movement of his finger, Cloud slid back to Sephiroth's side against his will.

Enraged, Cloud whipped around to shove Sephiroth away from him. Axel couldn't stifle a gasp at the brave gesture. Shit…he didn't think anyone had the guts to go on the offensive with that guy! But Sephiroth only raised an uncaring eyebrow at Cloud. "Displeased?"

"Hell yes! I told you never to do that!" Cloud shouted, eyeing him distastefully. "Maybe Leon's right…maybe you coming here was a mistake."

Sephiroth's eyes hardened at that and for the first time, he allowed emotions to distort his face. Pure anger with slight bewilderment. "You missed me. I could feel it. You summoned me here because you needed to see me. Is this not what you wanted?"

Cloud let out an exasperated sigh. "Of course I missed you! You're always working down in the Succubus Society so I never see you. When Axel wanted a job and said he'd bring you here in exchange, I jumped at the chance. It's just…you've got to stop antagonizing everyone."

Sephiroth continued watching Cloud for another moment, even though the blonde had stopped speaking. Finally, without uttering a single word, Sephiroth cloaked both Cloud and himself into foggy, puffy darkness, causing Axel to shut his eyes. When he opened them, the two men were gone. Woah…trippy.

Leon gasped, whipping his head around in every direction in search for his best friend. "Cloud? Cloud!"

Axel snorted, turning around and walking back into the kitchen. He thought he was doing Leon a favor when he called out over his shoulder, "Don't worry, Sephiroth probably took him to his lair."

Silence was his only response. Frowning a bit—since he was _actually_ trying to make the guy feel better—he added, "Ya know…his lair of _love_."

"Yeah, I get the picture." Leon snapped in exasperation. He groaned and mumbled lowly to himself, "I can't believe I let this happen. Now we're all at risk."

Shaking, Sora poked his head out from under the kitchen counter. Holy crap…the things he had seen tonight!

So if his deductions were correct—and they usually weren't, but whatever—Cloud was going out with a bad guy, Leon was a good guy, and Axel was on the fence? Ugh…maybe he didn't understand anything after all.

He wished Riku was here.

"Hi." Axel smirked, suddenly right next to him. Sora died a thousand deaths right there. Holy Zeus! Where the hell did he come from?

"Uh…err…um…h-hi." Sora stammered in response, thrusting his body over the counter in panic. _Shit! _Without thinking, he began to move up and down in a weird gyrating movement, shouting out a little too loudly, "I was just cleaning the counters!"

"With your body?" Axel asked him in amusement, his expression making it clear that he did _not_ believe that for one second. Sora straightened and coughed. No use keeping that excuse going. Shoot…well, what else did he have?

"I was eating?" He tried, but Axel shook his head knowingly. Damn…uh… "Selling myself?"

Axel laughed outright at that, and Sora relaxed a bit. See…no harm was going to happen to him, right? The man was laughing…that had to count for something!

"It seems a bit unlikely, but hey, who am I to judge?" Axel allowed, giving him a once-over so thorough that it made Sora shiver. "Anyway, don't worry. I'm not going to eat you."

Sora nearly fainted. What?! Who the hell was this guy?! "_I don't taste good anyway!" _He shrieked, clutching the counter for balance as fear ripped through him.

Leon suddenly entered the kitchen—a very angry and pouty version of Leon—and headed straight for Axel. "And another thing! How were you able to get Sephiroth a green card without talking to the elders?"

He stopped when he noticed Sora's death grip on the counter and Axel's shit-eating smirk. Oh jeez…what the hell did he just walk in on? Sighing heavily, he reluctantly asked, "What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm definitely not eating him. This little guy heard everything and I was assuring him that I'm not going to hurt him. I would never hurt any of the Strife men." Axel explained seriously, reaching over and patting Sora on the back comfortingly.

Leon scowled at him. Yeah right. Axel may be charming, but he was still a demon, and once he gave in to his demonic urges, Leon was going to be there, camera in one hand and gun sword in the other.

And now, to add more to his to-do list, apparently Sora Strife just got a taste of the supernatural. Boy…a Huntsman's job really never ended, huh?

"I'll take care of him. Go home or wherever it is you're staying. I'm sure Cloud will be back tomorrow so don't skip out on your work shift just because he vanished with his mate." Leon advised, folding his arms and staring at Axel distastefully. When the redhead didn't move, he snapped, "Go!"

Axel rolled his eyes. Touchy touchy! He sent Sora one final wink before turning and making a portal for himself. Right before the darkness enveloped him, transporting him to any place of his choosing, he heard Leon's voice as he asked, _'Hey, Sora. Want a job hunting demons?'_

* * *

Roxas stretched the next morning in his bed, all of his muscles seeming to sigh in content. Seeing El Torro live had been one of the best experiences of his life! He was tired, covered in beer—a product of Hayner's flamboyant fangirling—but completely happy. Now all he had to do was find Axel and apologize for completely ditching him in favor of cheap entertainment.

His happy mood deflated the tiniest bit. Zeus, he was such a jerk. The horny part of Roxas had been scowling at him all night. He probably would have gotten laid last night if he'd played his cards right. Ah well…today was a new day. Maybe Axel would be in a better mood, too.

Roxas rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and grinned up at the ceiling. _Zeus, you are seriously a lifesaver. _

It didn't take him long to shower, get dressed, and drive to The Place, but once he got there he realized that something was off. For one thing, Cloud was nowhere to be found. Weird. Cloud never skipped work. He was always present, day in and day out, slaving away at his business. If that wasn't weird enough, Sora was sitting in a booth, surrounded by people he didn't recognize—except Leon, who had his arm around Sora like they were best friends—while Riku and Kairi sat in a booth on the other side of the restaurant, scowling at them. Hmm…

He scratched the back of his head. What the hell did he miss? Just as he was about to go over to Sora and see what was up, Axel strode out of the kitchen, talking to a shorter, slate-haired guy with a foul attitude and a cute face. Uh…who the hell was that?

And why the fuck was he so jealous all of a sudden?

As he got closer to them, he could hear Axel laughing, saying "Don't worry about it, those Huntsmen aren't after me!"

The other guy frowned and folded his arms. "Can we please discuss this? You're life is in danger."

Roxas, now just a few feet away from them, took the opportunity to butt in and figure out what was going on. A bit harshly, he interrupted them. "What the hell is up, Axel?"

Axel looked up at him, surprised. He exchanged glances with the slate-haired guy before shrugging casually and shooting Roxas a wide smile. Damn…that sexy grin always worked. "Hey Roxas. I'm just…you know…working. Cloud's not coming in today so I'm taking over The Place for the day while he's gone."

As Roxas frowned in confusion, Zexion whipped around to glare at Axel. "You told me he'd be here in an hour! Why do you insist on lying to me every second of every day?!"

Axel grinned at him before shoving him in Roxas' direction. He figured it was time for a diversion to avoid a Zexion lecture. "So kid, this here is my best friend Zexion, but you can call him Sexy Zexy."

"No you cannot!" Zexion sputtered quickly, sending Axel a swift kick to the behind before turning to appraise Roxas speculatively. "If you know what is good for you, you'll stay away from my friend."

Roxas was taken aback. What the hell? "Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning!" Zexion shot back before Axel grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from Roxas. He gave him an apologetic smile before yanking them both back into the kitchen. Behind his shoulder he shouted, "Don't listen to him, kid! We're still friends!"

Roxas blinked. He sure did pick a bad time to go to an El Torro tournament. Unsure of what to do with himself, he wandered aimlessly around The Place, feeling super awkward. He couldn't talk to Axel, Sora looked really busy, Riku and Kairi looked even busier glaring at Sora, and the gang was—Oh! The gang! They had to be free to hang out or something.

On his way back out of the restaurant, he noticed a sign on the door that wasn't there before. Hmm…he stopped to take a better look and almost laughed outright. There was a charity auction to raise money for children happening in three weeks…and they were auctioning dudes!

"No way in hell." Roxas scoffed out loud, shaking his head and strolling out of the restaurant. Unfortunately, as he swung the door open, he ended up nailing someone in the head who was trying to enter. Shit! "Oh crap, are you okay?"

The person he nailed glared up at him, adjusted his glasses with his middle finger and pointed angrily at the flyers that surrounded him on the floor. "Look at this mess! My flyers are everywhere now thanks to you, asshole!"

Roxas' bitchiness returned tenfold, even as he stooped down to help him with the loose sheets of paper. "Well watch where you're fucking going next time…_sir_."

The man sniffed indignantly. "Hmmph, well thank Zeus _you_ aren't going to enter this male auction. No one would want to buy a little ice queen like you!"

Roxas glowered at him. Oh, was that so?

* * *

"You're kidding, right? _You_, in a date auction?" Riku whispered in disbelief three days later as they sat in their 500 level physics class. Roxas and Riku shared most of the same classes given their similar IQ numbers. Sora was almost never in their classes unless it was an elective, which was pretty much all Sora took nowadays.

Roxas scowled at the arrogant, silver-haired annoyance. Was it that hard to believe? "Yes, alright? I'm going to enter and help society or whatever."

Riku laughed outright at that, earning them pointed glares from their professor, who was teaching in the front of the room. When he turned his back to them again, Roxas shoved him. "Nice going, Riku."

"Maybe Professor Snyder will bid on you." Riku snickered, pointing to their uptight and extremely unattractive teacher. "The flyer said anyone can bid on you guys."

Roxas stared at him in horror. Shit, was he serious? Suddenly Riku's surprise at his participation didn't seem so unreasonable after all. "Riku…you have to bid on me. You have to make sure some creepy old man doesn't win a date with me!"

Riku snorted and went back to taking notes. "Yeah right. Like I'm going to buy you—"

"Riku, please!" He hissed, tugging on a piece of Riku's hair in frustration. "Come on!"

"Assaulting me is not going to convince me." Riku retorted, batting his hands away. When Roxas just stopped and pouted at him, he rolled his eyes. "Look, normally I would, but I'm planning to buy your brother and I'm sure he'll cost a shitload as it is."

Roxas' jaw dropped. _Sora_? "Sora's entering too?"

Riku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Yes. His new best friend Leon convinced him to."

Roxas didn't know what to say to that. Sora had been spending all of his free time with Cloud's best friend…while Cloud himself was nowhere to be found. Things were getting stranger and stranger by the minute. "So you want a date with Sora?"

Riku shrugged and said nothing. Roxas smirked. Obviously that was a yes. But knowing his brother's appeal, Riku was going to have to shell out a lot of dough to earn a night with Sora Strife. Damn. Now there was no one to save him from creeptastic pervy old men.

As he turned back to the front of the room to start taking notes like Riku was doing, he caught a flash of red in his peripheral vision. Huh…?

A quick glance out of the window revealed Axel_, perched on an extremely tall tree_, staring intently at him. Holy shit, what was he doing?! If his classroom was on the eighth floor of the science building, and Axel was sitting right across from them…Axel was seriously that high off of the ground in an unsteady tree!

Axel blinked at him, finally registering that Roxas had caught his creeping. The blonde received an impish, goofy grin with an even goofier half-shrug. Roxas simmered in his seat. That idiot!

Pointing at the floor, Roxas mouthed to him, "get down!" Axel grinned and pointed to his ear, mouthing back, "I can't hear you!" Roxas sent him a murderous glare. So help him, if Axel didn't get down _right now_…

Axel defiantly began making a bunch of obnoxious gestures as he stood up and began dancing on the tree branch that was holding him up. Roxas knew he was about five seconds away from hyperventilating. Axel was seriously testing his patience right now. Suddenly, the weight of the tree branch underneath him gave way, sending the branch—and Axel—straight towards the ground.

Roxas gasped loudly, so loudly that everyone in class stopped to gape at him. He ran out of the classroom and into the hallway, so worried that he couldn't even think straight. As he flew down eight flights of stairs he cursed out that redhead so much in his brain. _What the fuck was he thinking? Why was he on a goddamn tree to begin with?_

Finally, he exited the building and ran to the tree…where there was no Axel. What? Oh crap, he must have limped off somewhere! Or worse, his body was so mutilated from the crash that someone loaded him into their white van and drove him away!

But before he could go running towards the highway, Axel, the annoying dick himself, stepped out from behind the tree, looking just as sexy as ever. Not a single scratch was on him!

"Hey, kid." Axel smirked, giving him a little half-wave. Roxas, in response, punched him in the face. "OW! What the hell was that for?!"

"What the hell were you _doing_ up there? What are you, some kind of freak stalker?! And when I say get down, I mean _get the fuck down right now_!" Roxas shouted as pure fury ripped through him. Zeus, Axel could have been seriously hurt! Or worse!

Axel just stood in surprise, a slow smile spreading on his face the longer Roxas lectured him. Finally, when Roxas just fell silent—what the hell was he smiling about?!—Axel hummed nonchalantly. "So you do care about me."

That stopped the blonde. "What?"

"The other night, you ditched me from El Titan. I thought maybe you didn't give a rat's ass about me." Axel admitted, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

Roxas was stunned. "It's El Torro, first of all. Second of all…I do give a…rat's…ass." _That's a weird phrase to use… _"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Axel."

Axel sniffed and looked at his shoes. Damn, now he felt completely foolish. He sounded like some prepubescent kid! "You didn't. Really, it was nothing."

Roxas stared at Axel for a beat before breaking out in a smile of his own. Wow…Axel was really cute. Why weren't they dating again? Oh right…because he just wanted to be friends. Uh…ridiculous!

"So…you're stalking me." Roxas mulled aloud, trying to decide if he liked it or not. "That's a little creepy, Axel."

Axel just grinned at him. It _was_ creepy and he knew it. But he'd been stalking the Strifes before he knew them and he'd still be doing it long after. "Yeah…me stalking you kind of comes with the package of being my friend."

Roxas rolled his eyes. Nice. "Don't watch me undress or anything."

Axel's eyes widened. Damn, he never thought about that! At his expression, Roxas laughed. "Don't get any weird ideas, Axel!"

Axel chuckled and tried to ignore the sudden image of a naked Roxas from his mind. He changed the subject. "So sorry about the other night at The Place. Zexion can be kind of…blunt."

Roxas pursed his lips. That was for damn sure. "Why did he tell me to stay away from you? Jealously?"

Axel almost laughed outright at the idea of _Zexion_ wanting to be with him, but then thought better of it. How else would he explain to Roxas that his friend was just trying to protect both of them from being miserable and permanently bound? Yeah, it was probably better if he just went with the jealousy thing. "Yes. He's loved me since we were little boys. He's terribly jealous of any other guys in my life."

Roxas frowned slightly. "Did you tell him _you_ want us to just be friends?"

Hmm…Roxas still didn't seem to like the idea of their friendship going nowhere. Ah well…this was for his own damn good. Besides, he was going to show Roxas that being his friend was almost as good as being his lover.

"Yeah, I did." Axel sighed dramatically, wrapping one arm around Roxas and throwing the other up in the air for effect. "He just can't seem to let me go! Oh well, love sucks, huh? Anyway, what are you doing right now? How about a gaming session? You never got a chance to play Halo 4…"

Roxas blew out a breath of annoyance. "I have class, Axel. You know, the thing you're distracting me from right now?"

Axel's whole body fell dejectedly. "Oh. Sorry. I just wanted to see you."

Roxas watched him warily. Damn, he was so dramatic! Fine…he could play the good friend. "You can come over tonight. We can play for a little while."

Axel brightened. "Great! I can't wait. You better get to class, then! Tell them…hmm…oh, I know! Tell them you were distracted by a sexy redheaded porn star who—"

"Axel! Ugh, I'm going to class. See you later." Roxas grumbled, fighting down a smile. The last thing he wanted Axel to see was his immediate effect on him.

* * *

Evening came and went quickly, and Axel found himself struggling to keep his feelings for Roxas Strife completely platonic. Somehow Halo, probably his least favorite franchise, was the best series in the world when he played it with Roxas. Everything was just better with the grumpy little blonde.

It was amazing. With all of the drama in his life, Roxas was the one thing that seemed to come with no strings attached. Their friendship was so natural…effortless! Still, he wanted more. He wanted everything. But in the depths of his heart he knew that he didn't deserve any of Roxas Strife's goodness.

The week passed by quickly with Axel visiting his apartment every night to hang out. Axel never remembered having so much fun with someone before! Roxas didn't get offended when he was being a dick, and in turn, Axel wasn't fazed by the blonde's sassiness.

There was just one problem. Someone in the Succubus Society wanted him dead while the hunters in this realm were—maybe!—contemplating making him their next project. They'd even brought innocent Sora Strife in the mix!

Zexion had been visiting him much more frequently, thanks to Demyx's green card connections, so on top of everything else, he had to listen to "I told you so" and "you're a dumbass" every five seconds. It was true, but damn! Couldn't a guy catch a break?!

Roxas was the only good thing in his life right now. Running The Place was a lot of work without Cloud…but it paid the bills and gave him a distraction for when Roxas was in class. All in all, things could be going better, but they weren't _bad_.

Or so he thought.

Bright and early on Monday morning, Zexion materialized in his room as expected. Axel groaned. His best friend didn't even have the decency to surprise him later in the day! Grumbling, he snapped, "What is it?"

Zexion for once didn't have a smart retort. He merely sat on the edge of the bed numbly, looking at the ground flatly. The silence startled Axel enough to sit up quickly. Oh shit. Something must have gone down. Much gentler, he repeated his question. "What is it, Zex?"

Zexion cleared his throat, but still didn't look at him. "I discovered the identity of the person attempting to kill you."

Axel went white. His mind was coming up with all kinds of possibilities and none of them were good. "Who?"

"His name…h-his name is Ansem." Zexion confessed slowly. "Ansem has the hit out on you."

Axel felt like his whole world was collapsing around him at once. Shit! Ansem the fucking Wise wanted him dead?! "He's a goddamn council member!"

"And one of the oldest demons around." Zexion added unhelpfully. When Axel just glared at him, he shrugged unapologetically. "It's true."

"Why does he want me dead? How do you know it's him? What do I do now?!" Axel fired rapidly at Zexion before just collapsing back onto his bed. "This cannot be happening."

Zexion sighed heavily, then leaned back so he was lying on Axel's stomach. "Axel…I don't know what you should do. For once, I am at a loss."

"Well, how did you find out?"

Zexion shrugged. "That part was surprisingly easy. I happened to witness an exchange in person between Ansem and some lowlife demon. Once Ansem was gone, I threatened the little shit with my book. He told me that it was Ansem who wants your head on a platter before you mate with anyone."

Damn. If all of that was true, Axel was in some serious trouble. Ansem was so old that his influence went on for miles. He could usually get whatever he wanted just by _thinking_ it.

In an act of extremely bad timing, Axel's phone chimed with an obnoxious ringtone. Zexion cringed at the happy tune and Axel was actually able to crack a smile. Zex hated happy songs, which was one of the reasons why he refused to go out with Demyx, who loved to play them on his sitar.

As the tune quieted down before immediately repeating even louder, Zexion growled and finally snapped, "Check the damn thing already!"

Axel busted out laughing as he reaching for his phone. "Of course, your highness."

A quick glance confirmed what he guessed was the notification. Roxas Strife's location had been acquired. The app said he and his little gang of shit-fits were down at some beach. Hmm…a beach trip with Roxas by his side sounded like the perfect way to get his mind off of Ansem.

Zexion stared at him suspiciously, already reading his changing expression. Clearly he did not like what he was seeing, either. "Axel…don't even think about leaving."

Axel winced, even as he stood up and began getting dressed. "I'm sorry, Zex, but there's somewhere I have to be."

"Where on earth do you need to be right now? With Roxas 'forbidden fruit' Strife?" Zexion demanded, watching him intently as Axel danced around the room, haphazardly throwing clothes around the room. "What does Sephiroth think about this?"

"Sephiroth doesn't think anything." Axel answered him as-a-matter-of-factly. "He was here last week and he didn't say a damn thing about staying away from Roxas. Must be that green card I bribed Cloud with."

Zexion's mouth fell open. There was just so much stupid going through Axel's head that it took his words away. Axel just grinned at him on his way to the bathroom. Zex would get over it. He always did. Around his toothbrush, he pointed out, "Woxas if competely unwelated to Ansum."

Zexion frowned in response but still said nothing. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. It had to be more than a coincidence that all of these occurrences were happening at the same time. Hunters, Ansem, Sephiroth, the Strifes…

It had to all mean something. He just couldn't figure out the connection!

Axel opened a portal with a little smile on his face. He was going to see Roxas! One look at Zexion told him he wasn't pleased with him at all but…oh well. Maybe Zexion would understand better once _he_ had to start looking for a mate next year.

Waving, Axel stepped inside the portal…and transported away from his best friend.

* * *

Roxas laughed happily as he whacked his best friend Hayner over the head with a struggle bat, easily dodging a last minute lunge by merely stepping out of the way. His best friend frowned up at him, scowling even deeper when Roxas jokingly planted a foot on Hayner's back, posing goofily.

Olette clapped enthusiastically, jumping up and down in her excitement. "That makes 10 wins for Roxas, zero for Hayner!"

Roxas smirked cockily but leaned down to inspect Hayner's body for any bruises. "Anything hurt?"

"Cocky cock." Hayner muttered, ignoring Roxas' fretting and getting up from the ground by himself. "You're going to lose for sure next time."

Pence snorted. "You've only been saying that for ten weeks."

Ever since the school year started, Roxas and Hayner had been training for the preliminaries for the National Struggle Championship that was to happen in nine months. The winner of the championship was to win the title, a spot in the International tournaments, and one million dollars. Hayner wanted the fame, but Roxas wanted that money more than anything. With one million dollars, one could go off and start over anywhere they wanted. They could get away from here.

_He_ could get away from here.

Sure, he met Axel, the most interesting thing to happen to him in a while, but it was clear that the sexy redhead didn't feel the same. And even though Roxas liked Axel and didn't mind too much that they were focusing on building a friendship, friendship just wasn't enough to keep him here in downtown Endverse.

"Axel!" Olette squeaked, and Roxas looked over just in time to see the man himself sauntering over to them, grinning from ear to ear. Hayner growled but hastily began dusting himself.

"What's he doing here?" He demanded, folding his arms when he finished his little primping. "This is a closed training session."

"Training session?" Axel asked curiously, stopping next to Roxas as if it was his rightful place. "For what?"

"None of your—"

"The National Struggle Championship!" Olette announced proudly, smiling cheekily at Hayner. "Roxas is guaranteed to win for us!"

"Hey, I'm decent!" Hayner argued, but Olette stepped in front of him and covered his mouth with one hand to shut him up. With a little laugh, she added, "Roxas has been training for this for months!"

Axel grinned at Roxas, giving him a little pat on the back. "Is that so? Well good for you, kid! Maybe you'll be able to defend yourself a little bit, huh?"

Roxas paused, glancing over at him with narrowed eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Axel scratched his neck innocently. He didn't mean anything by it. "It means that having at least a little bit of fighting ability will do you good."

"I have more than just a little fighting ability. I could protect everyone standing here by myself if need be." Roxas argued, giving him a defiant look. Axel eyed him up and down, looking at his biceps and muscles. Hmm…kid actually had a pretty good turn-out.

Truth be told, if, for whatever reason Roxas became his mate, he was going to need to know how to defend himself. Demons had a lot of enemies…

"Well I'm glad. Anyway," Axel lowered his voice to a sultry octave, leaning so close to Roxas that his lips were against his ear, "I was hoping you would join me for a little…snack."

Olette covered her burning face in Hayner's chest, annoying him to no end. He clenched his fists and spat, "Why don't you just take him to your bedroom, creep, since I'm sure that's what you're implying!"

Roxas shrugged with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Sounds good to me."

Hayner's mouth dropped, as did Olette's and Pence's. Axel smirked at them, considering the offer, before shaking his head and taking Roxas' hand. "As much as I like the sound of that, I really did mean snack. Let's go, kid."

As Axel and Roxas walked off, the blonde turned and waved to his still shell-shocked best friend. "Bye Hayner! Have fun without me!"

When the two were out of sight, Olette turned to Hayner, sighing adoringly. "You are so cute when you're jealous."

Hayner blushed, folding his arms petulantly. "I'm not jealous. I just think Roxas can do better than that creep."

"What, better like you?" Pence chimed in, nudging his friend knowingly.

Hayner nodded distractedly, thinking back to all the great times he'd had with Roxas…would have with Roxas. "Maybe. Yeah."

* * *

Roxas was learning that when Axel wanted a "snack", he really meant he wanted some one-on-one conversation, so as the two sat in Sweet Peas, a low key smoothie joint, he figured he would get the ball rolling by informing him of his newest philanthropy project.

Roxas grinned cheekily. "You said you wanted to be my friend. Well, friends support friends."

Axel frowned. Damn. Kid was right. There was no real reason he should be so upset that Roxas wanted to enter a date auction to help charity. Friends shouldn't discourage friends from entering date auctions at the risk that the friend may be bought by another dude…

"Fine, enter the damn thing." He grumbled, squeezing his smoothie cup so hard that the lid popped off. Roxas watched all of this with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. He knew _exactly_ what he was doing to him.

"Maybe you could try to buy me. You know, help charity and all that?" Roxas suggested before pausing comically and exaggeratedly smacking his forehead. "Oh wait, that's right! You can't, because—"

"—I don't have the money." Axel finished, tossing out the mangled cup with a sigh. "Kid, why are you doing this to me?"

"Because you're teasing me with your friendship…Rosebud." Roxas retorted, half kidding and half serious. Truth was, the more he got to know Axel, the more he wanted him all to himself. While it thrilled him that they were so compatible as friends, it just made him wish he could have all of him, not just half.

Axel rolled his eyes, shifting in his chair so he could lean closer to Roxas. When the blonde could smell the scent of cinnamon and apples, Axel cleared his throat and confided, "No one's called me Rosebud since middle school, kid."

And thank the heavens for that. Middle school in the Succubus Society was just like middle school for humans except on crack. More bullies, more fights, more awkward teenage angst.

Roxas raised an eyebrow, giving him a serious face. "It's too late now. Once nicknames are appointed, they're pretty impossible to get rid of."

Axel's own eyebrow raised in response. "Is that so? Well then, who, may I ask, makes them so damn hard to get rid of?"

"Sir Nicholas the third, the Nickname Fairy of Gaia." Roxas deadpanned.

They both stared at each other with intrigued expression on their faces…before bursting out in laughter. Roxas had a wonderfully beautiful laugh, full of merriment and joy and…

_Snort_.

Axel blinked as Roxas quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment. The kid…snorted while he laughed? Why didn't he notice that before?! Never had he ever actually met someone who…

"Oops…" Roxas trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck in humiliation. He dared a glance at Axel to see his reaction. Axel stared at him for another long moment before beginning to laugh again. Oh man, this kid was just full of surprises, and every single one of them was wonderful and cute.

Roxas smiled ruefully. "Hey, it's not funny."

"You're right." Axel answered immediately, but unable to wipe the grin from his face. "It's not funny. It's cute."

Roxas shook his head, blushing, and struggled to get them talking again. If they continued flirting like this, they'd never be able to just be friends. "Anyway, what if fairies were actually real? Think they'd be nice?"

Axel grunted at the question. Fairies? Nice? "Fairies are only nice to humans. To a demon, fairies are the bullies of the fantasy world."

Roxas smiled. "You've clearly thought a lot about this."

"Thinking has nothing to do with it. Fairies are conniving, heartless demon-haters who don't deserve their good reputation. In fact," Axel scooted closer to Roxas and lowered his voice, "I heard that some fairies pretend to be like fairy godparents or some shit just to mess with humans, then turn around and say demons did it. That's how much they hate us."

Roxas listened to all this with amusement and a touch of confusion. It was obvious Axel had a vivid imagination, but what did he mean, "us?"

He decided to ask. "Us?"

Axel realized his mistake about ten seconds too late. Shit. He quickly backpedalled. "Did I say us? I meant them. Pssh, yeah, as if I was a demon. That's just…that's just silly."

Roxas gave him a funny look, clearly thinking he was acting a little strange. Feeling desperate, Axel did the first thing that came to his mind. He took Roxas' cute little face in his hands…and kissed him smack dab on the lips.

Wide, surprised blue eyes stared into frazzled green ones before sliding shut on their own accord. Axel soon followed suit. Kissing Roxas was just too all-encompassing.

Finally, when he started to feel the urge to kiss him even harder, he pulled away with a look of reluctance in his eyes. He scratched his head in bewilderment. "Sorry about that. I don't know why I did that."

Roxas was gazing deeply into the table. Quietly, he admitted, "I'm glad you did."

After a tense moment, both of them sighed, instantly dispelling the sexual tension. With a groan, Axel whined, "We were doing such a good job, too. You know, of not touching?"

Roxas gave him a playful punch in his bicep. "Well don't beat yourself up about it, Rosebud."

Just because he was being cute, Axel leaned over and gave him a teasing smooch on his temple, pulling away with a grin on his face. "I'm not."

They both stared meaningfully at each other for a long moment before Roxas shook himself a bit and smiled ruefully. They were doing it again. He needed to change the subject fast—stat!

"How the hell has someone like you managed to run The Place?" Roxas blurted out in question. Immediately after the words left his mouth, his cheeks flamed in embarrassment. Could he sound any more pretentious? It was a wonder Axel still even hung around him!

Axel smirked at the regret painted clear on Roxas' face from his question. Luckily, he wasn't the type to get offended. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh…some of my undercover assignments required me to work in restaurants. It isn't hard work once you realize that the secret to all such labor is customer service."

Roxas considered Axel's words with interest as his humiliation faded away. He liked this side of Axel; thoughtful, philosophical and introspective. He was actually very wise. Although they were only one year apart, it kind of felt like there was an age gap between them. It was beyond fascinating. "When do you think Cloud is getting back?"

Axel's contemplative expression gave way to sly amusement. Images of one blonde and one silver-haired beast breaking the headboard and tearing up the sheets filled his mind. Hmm…Sephiroth must have had quite a bit saved up considering he hadn't seen Cloud in so long…

"Who knows? He's your brother, right? Shouldn't I be asking you?" Axel replied as a matter-of-factly. "Don't you Strifes communicate?"

His smart-aleck reply earned him a withering glare. "Sorry, but we don't hang up Cloud's schedule for fucking on the refrigerator door."

Axel blinked at him for a moment, registering Roxas' words in his head. Schedule for…fucking? Oh. He chuckled at the blonde, giving him an appreciative nod as he cackled softly. "You're pretty funny, Roxas Strife. Don't quit your day job, though."

* * *

One hour later, Axel and Roxas wandered into The Place, both a little tipsy off of the other's presence. Being together honestly just felt right. Roxas didn't want to disrespect Axel's wishes to just be friends, but he couldn't help but try to come up with more ways to push Axel over the edge. Maybe he could weasel another kiss or a full-blown make out session out of him.

He watched Axel unlock the restaurant with the spare key, fumbling slightly before yanking the thing open. He grinned over at Roxas sheepishly. "It takes a little push to get it open."

Roxas just smirked and followed him inside. When they walked in, both were surprised to see a couple making out in the corner of the restaurant—pretty heatedly, too. Axel frowned.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He snapped at them, striding over in three long steps. "How did you get in here?"

The couple broke apart at his words. When Roxas saw who it was, his jaw dropped and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Holy shit, it was Cloud! And some…other dude!

"Cloud?!" Roxas cried in pure and utter shock. Making out in dark corners? That wasn't like his boring, safe older brother at all! "What are you doing?!"

Looking flustered, Cloud hastened to straighten his clothes, shoving the other guy—some tall silver-haired guy—away from him. Mumbling, he replied, "I was just saying goodbye to my…"

Everyone looked at Cloud as he faltered and a deep blush blossomed on his face. The silver-haired man frowned at him for a moment before turning his attention to Roxas. The blonde couldn't help but flinch. Damn this guy was huge!

"My name is Sephiroth. I am Cloud's lover. His man. His confidante. His sex partner. His fuck—"

"I think he gets the picture!" Cloud exclaimed quickly, stepping in front of Sephiroth as if he was trying to hide him. "Sephiroth is my boyfriend, Rox."

"Obviously." Axel snorted from where he was now perched on the counter. "When were you planning to tell us you were back?"

Cloud looked back at Roxas apologetically, even as he received a glare in return. "Sorry Rox. I got carried away with Sephiroth and…well, we've been handling some important business…"

"I'm sure Sephiroth _has_ been handling your…business." Axel snickered. Roxas shuddered at the thought. This conversation was getting a little too risqué for his taste, especially when it was involving his older brother.

"Okay, moving on. Where have you been, Cloud? I mean, Sora and I don't live with you so it's not like you have to ask us for permission when you go away on vacation…but it sure as hell is courteous." Roxas complained, frowning as he leaned against the counter. "I mean, we _are_ brothers, after all."

"I was suddenly needed elsewhere" Cloud explained with a pointed glare at Sephiroth. He earned a painfully impassive look in response. "I didn't know I was leaving until it happened. And once I was gone, I had to attend to a lot of important matters related to…um…the restaurant."

Axel listened to all of this with interest. So…Roxas didn't know Sephiroth was a demon, huh? It sounded like Cloud wasn't ready to integrate Roxas into that lifestyle just yet, even though Cloud himself had been involved with the Succubus Society for some years now. Hmm…that was just another reason he and Roxas should remain friends; if Sephiroth didn't chop off his dick for seeing the younger blonde, Cloud would no doubt do it for him.

Maybe Sephiroth knew how to handle this whole "Ansem" problem. Word on the street was that Sephiroth was the number one candidate for the open seat available on the council. Apparently one of the council members went rouge—or was killed by the council themselves, which seemed far more likely to him—so they were in talks of who would be replacing that member. Sephiroth, of course, was the obvious choice. His skills were far more impressive than any full-fledged demon; it was rare for a half-demon to be so strong. Sephiroth was an original member of the Organization, the people Axel worked for, and had never messed up a single mission. Never.

"Sephy," Axel began casually, ignoring the chill that ran down his spine from the glare Sephiroth shot him at the nickname, "Do you think we could talk for a minute? You know, in private?"

Sephiroth considered this…for a second. The next thing Axel knew, he was being pulled outside The Place while two pairs of wide blue eyes watched him go. He tried to telepathically assure Roxas that he would be okay…but even _he_ didn't believe that bullshit.

Once outside, Sephiroth turned to face him with an expectant look on his face. Axel relaxed just the tiniest bit…Sephiroth only took him out here to talk, not to murder him. A bit more confidently, he declared, "Ansem the Wise wants to kill me."

Sephiroth's cold, bored expression never wavered. He merely asked, "What exactly is your reason for wasting my time?"

Axel's confidence shattered and his face fell. Eh?! "You don't care that I'm being hunted? I thought we were friends!"

There was that word again. Friends. And damn him, he had used it without thinking in front of Sephiroth. This was not going to end well, he just knew it. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, appraising him.

"What gave you that impression?"

Axel blew out a breath. Time to make his case. "Well…at the very least you don't seem to mind my presence. I'm the only demon you ever sit by or drink with! That means something, damn it!"

Sephiroth hummed in response but said nothing. Axel groaned and slapped a hand to his face. Zeus, he was such an idiot! What was he thinking?! Sephiroth wouldn't help a little half-demon like him. He wasn't even on the guy's radar!

"I made myself perfectly clear when I avowed the Strife brothers off limits." Sephiroth stated smoothly, completely changing the subject. Axel only stared at him, confused. What the hell did that have to do with Ansem wanting his ass on a silver platter?

He shrugged unapologetically. "Yeah, well…I did the best I could to stay away from them, but I failed miserably." Sephiroth's expression hardened at his blatant disregard for the rules, so Axel quickly added, "I'm not going to mate with either of the twins! Honest!"

Sephiroth watched him for a tense moment before finally showing an expression on his face—exasperation. At Axel's stunned look, he explained with an exhausted tone to his voice, "I didn't declare them off limits for my own health, you idiotic, miserable excuse for a half-demon."

Axel blinked at him, still shocked at Sephiroth trusting him enough to show any kind of emotion. "What?"

"They are banned from all demons because the council has made it so. The Strifes' ancestors have a hidden tie to most of the members of the council; it is a secret they wish to bury in the ground." Sephiroth responded coldly, removing a tendril of hair from his face. "All who mate with them must face their wrath."

Axel listened to all of this in confusion, struggling to remain upright. Why did there have to be so many goddamn conditions to being with the one person he actually liked enough to want to be with forever? As he was despairing, a thought struck him. "Wait a minute. How the hell are you still here then?"

Sephiroth gave him an arch look. "I won."

"Wait, wait, wait. If I mate with Roxas, I'm going to have to fight all of the council members?" Axel asked incredulously. "Like…to the death?"

Sephiroth couldn't stop himself from slapping Axel over the head. The redhead winced. Ow! What the hell?! "Hey!"

"Council members can only be killed by other council members. How on earth did you complete school?" Sephiroth snapped, frowning distastefully at him. It seemed that all good feelings towards him had vanished due to Axel's stupidity. "Visit your local library."

Axel rolled his eyes. Jeez, don't have a freaking cow. "So all I need to do is beat them in battle and I can be with a Strife?"

He received a deep sigh as Sephiroth watched him for a long breath…before actually _softening_. "Axel…perhaps I do value your presence more than other demons. That could explain my…inclination to help you. If you truly want to survive and live past your 21st birthday, you will leave Roxas Strife alone. Allow him to live the life he was meant to live. Allow him happiness. Find some other human to mate with."

With that, Sephiroth walked away from him and into a portal that Axel hadn't even known was there—conversation over. A split second later, Sephiroth was gone completely. Axel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. When a demon like Sephiroth told you to leave a human alone…you left that goddamn human alone.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Axel left Roxas at The Place…and the blonde hadn't seen him since. This was becoming ridiculous. He was tired of playing these little cat and mouse games with Axel. It was humiliating! And even worse, he never got a chance to finish convincing Axel to buy him at the date auction.

This was the night that the auction for charity was going down and Roxas had no clue who he was going to be sold to. It was kind of scary; some creepy old pervert could be planning to buy him before the night was over.

Roxas sighed heavily, earning his twin's attention. The two of them sat in uncomfortable folding chairs backstage as a bunch of volunteers did their hair and clothes for free. All of the suitors got free "makeovers" before they were auctioned off. Sora thought of it as a present. Roxas, on the other hand, considered it a consolation prize if the whole thing went badly.

He was pretty damn sure that it would.

"What's wrong, Rox? Aren't you excited?" Sora asked him happily, grinning from ear to ear. For whatever reason, Sora was super psyched for this whole thing. Leon had been in the room earlier, talking to him about something, and as soon as he left, Sora was the happiest guy in the whole world. If Roxas didn't know any better, he would think that his twin was in some kind of sordid love affair with Leon. But that was just outrageous and…weird to even think about.

"I am most definitely _not_ excited." Roxas answered flatly, frowning when one of the volunteers began pulling out makeup from her bag. If she thought that was making it on his face, she had another thing coming. "_Anyone_ could buy a date from us."

"I know, isn't it great?" Sora exclaimed before actually clapping. If Roxas wasn't too busy glaring at his volunteer in an attempt to make her put the makeup back, he would have punched Sora in the face for being so gay. And he meant gay in the most literal way possible. No one should be that damn happy about being sold.

"Alright boys, time to line up!" The director announced excitedly. All of the guys straightened their clothes and put the final touches on their hair before lining up in alphabetical order just behind the stage curtains.

_Oh Zeus, it's starting._

Roxas took a deep breath. It was show time.

* * *

Axel had seriously debated not going to the stupid date auction that Roxas was for whatever reason participating in. For one thing, he had no fucking money. Sure, he could steal it. But the truth was, he didn't want to. The longer he stayed in this realm, the more he wanted to do it the right way. The legal way. Unfortunately, Cloud didn't pay his little "intern" enough to pay rent _and_ buy expensive-ass Roxas. And there was no doubt in his mind that Roxas would break the bank.

Secondly, Sephiroth himself had warned him to stay away from the cute little blond Strife and Axel was a save-your-own-ass kind of guy. When someone gave him good advice, he wasn't too picky about taking it.

But staying away from Roxas Strife was hard. Quite frankly, he hated it. And he hated himself for making Roxas think they were going to be together, then say they could only be friends, just to turn around and ignore him completely.

It was like…damn. He knew he had a lot of demon in him, but did that mean he automatically had to be a dick, too?

This disgust for himself could probably explain why he found himself entering the date auction an hour late, an empty wallet in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. The flowers were for Roxas once he won him—because there was no way some other guy was going to buy his little blondie while he was here, obviously.

The auditorium the auction was in was packed and full of excited, chattering people. Now that he would be one of them, there was just the pesky problem of finding somewhere to sit. A quick glance confirmed that there were only two seats available by the front. One next to Buffy—err—_Leon_ the Demon Slayer…and one next to that silver-haired guy, Riku, who didn't seem to like him at all. Ugh. Time to pick which poison to drink.

"Hey, it's Riku, right? Mind if I sit here?" Axel asked Riku as he made his choice. Without waiting for an answer, he plopped down ungracefully next to the other male, jostling him in the process. Riku sighed loudly at him.

"Please, by all means." He quipped sarcastically, making a show of gesturing for him to sit down, even though Axel was already seated. "Grace me with your presence."

Axel thought about messing with him…he certainly deserved it with that kind of attitude…but he was kinda into charity and shit at the moment. He grinned at Riku sympathetically. "Let me guess…Sora is about to come on stage and you're worried you won't win."

Riku slumped down in his chair. "Is it that obvious?"

Axel nodded gravely. Riku was as obvious as a mascot in a wedding ceremony. "It's written all over that frowning, not very attractive face."

Riku opened his mouth to retort, but Sora was suddenly bouncing onto the stage, effectively shutting him up. Axel grinned at him. His clear longing for the Strife twin was kind of cute. The energy in the room somehow got jacked up by fifty percent, too, as soon as Sora Strife hit that stage. Figures. Sora _was_ kinda infectious.

The announcer cleared his throat, indicating that everyone needed to shut up so he could do his job. Then, when it was quiet enough, his annoyed expression morphed into a recognizable sleazy salesman grin. "Ladies and gentlemen, behold cuteness at its finest! Here we have _the_ Sora Strife!"

The audience erupted into applause. Damn, Sora was popular! Axel glanced at Riku. The other male was scowling, but he never took his eyes off of Sora. Hmm…maybe he could help this guy out. Might be nice to have a human other than Roxas on his side for once.

"—and he even wants to travel the world one day! So, the bidding starts at one hundred!" The announcer finished, shoving Sora closer to the audience so they could get a better look. The brunette flashed a friendly smile at the crowd before striking an extremely goofy pose.

That was all it took. The numbers for bidding went flying into the air, with calls of "two hundred", "five hundred", "eight hundred" coming from all around the room. As the price continued to rise steadily, Riku just silently seethed, clutching his number like a lifeline. Finally, the bidding slowed around two thousand, with Leon and one other man—a very old and creepy man—still raising their numbers.

Riku took a deep breath…then raised his number. Both Leon and the perverted guy glared at him…but he didn't notice at all. Because he was too busy having a moment with Sora, who was gaping at Riku like he just grew five extra heads.

"Riku…wants a date with _me_?" Sora gasped quietly, but Axel heard him. And he nearly died from all of the lovey dovey cuteness. The same cuteness he wanted with Roxas…oh fuck, he didn't want to think about that right now.

Leon suddenly raised his number in the air with a very exuberant shout. "Three thousand!"

The announcer whistled, clearly impressed. "This man means business! What's it going to be, fellas?"

The perverted man groaned and slunk back in his chair, crossing his arms in frustration. Whew…thank god _that_ wasn't the one who was going to get Sora. Riku blew out a breath and turned to Axel with a pained expression on his face. Oh no.

"I don't have enough." Riku whispered to him urgently, giving him a distressed look. "What do I do?"

"I'll steal it for you if you want." Axel offered kindly, glancing up and nodding at the pervert. "I'll just take what he has and you can add it to your savings."

Riku stared at him for a long moment before realizing that he was not, in fact, joking. Annoyed, he snapped, "I'm not going to buy Sora with dirty fucking money."

Well, jeez. He was just trying to help! "Fine, how about this then? How about you just ask Sora on a real date?"

Riku shifted uncomfortably, glancing briefly at Sora before shooting Axel a strained expression. "What if he says no? At least this way I know he can't reject me."

Axel gave him a look. Stupid humans. "Sora obviously wants you bad. Just look at that face. He's dying for you to buy him. Just be a real man and ask him out in person. Let Leon waste all his money on someone who doesn't even like him."

See? He could be helpful. And this way, he could get a little revenge on Leon, the hunter who probably, maybe, sorta wanted him dead.

Riku shook his head at the announcer, slowly sitting back down in his seat as the words "going once…going twice…" were chanted around him. Sora tried to hide his disappointment, even as the announcer slammed the hammer and shouted, "Sold! To the man with the scar!"

The girl sitting next to Leon, a short little thing with a pixie cut, squealed and jumped up and down in excitement. "Al_right!_ It's going to be a steamy night between a lone wolf and a cute little puppy!"

Riku literally growled at the sound of that and it took everything within Axel to keep from bursting into intense laughter. This was why he liked hanging around these humans as opposed to the either boring or sadistic assholes in the Succubus Society.

Sora slinked off of the stage as the announcer put his salesman face back on. "Next!"

Everyone waited with bated breath for the next guy to run out on stage…but no one was coming out. The announcer's fake smile gave way to a real grimace, and he stomped off stage for a moment while everyone in the crowd exchanged curious whispers.

A second later, a completely adorable looking Roxas Strife was being shoved onto the stage by the announcer against his will. Axel brightened considerably. Ho boy…it had been two weeks since he'd seen Roxas Strife and damn did he look good!

They must have done something to his hair…it looked so soft and silky from where he was sitting. And the clothes they'd put him in. Fucking adorable. He was wearing a khaki outfit with matching pants and a matching jacket, while checkers detailed each piece in the most fashionable way imaginable. Hot damn. He wanted to take off every piece of clothing…slowly.

The announcer tried to swallow his intense annoyance, but a little bit colored his voice as he began speaking again. "This stubborn little rascal is Roxas Strife. He likes struggle, sea salt ice cream…and clearly, people."

_What? Roxas hates people_. Axel watched with growing irritation as Roxas frowned at the announcer, who had added that false little tidbit in a sneer. Hmm…it had been a long time since Axel had eaten a human…

He was definitely going to feast on this guy tonight.

But for now, he needed to concentrate on bidding on Roxas before some creepy guy snatched him up. A bit doubtfully, the announcer opened up the floor for bidding at one hundred like he did for Sora.

The crowd wasn't as enthusiastic for Roxas, but the offers were around the same frequency. Numbers were going up left and right and frankly, Axel couldn't keep the fuck up. Besides, he still wasn't sure how he was going to pay for Roxas even if he did manage to beat all of these suitors out for a date.

Finally, at around one thousand, the offers slowed down and only one man remained. It was some weird guy in a cloak holding a suitcase stuffed with money. He knew because dollar bills were pouring out of the sides like he was some rich pimp or something. Who the hell was this freak, and what the fuck did he want with Roxas?

"We're at one thousand dollars! No other bids? Alright, well…going once…going twice…"

"Two thousand!" Axel shouted, raising his hand in the air. He never actually got a number when he came in so…good old fashioned hand-raising was going to have to do. "How 'bout that?"

Roxas flashed him a skeptical look from the stage. He must have been remembering their conversation about Axel being completely broke. Reassuringly, he gave Roxas a little thumbs up. He'd figure out how to pay somehow.

The cloaked man turned in his direction, but Axel still couldn't see his face, even as he replied calmly, "Four thousand."

Holy shit…four thousand? Now he was getting really suspicious. Now he _had_ to win Roxas. There was no way in hell he was going to let that freak claim _his_ human. "Six thousand!"

The announcer dropped his microphone in complete shock. Stammering, he mumbled, "A-any other takers for this desirable prize?

The cloaked man was still staring right at him. Only this time, he was eerily silent. The announcer wiped his shocked look from his face and hastily picked up his microphone from the floor. "Six thousand dollars for Roxas Strife…going once…going twice…"

The cloaked man turned away from Axel, _but thank Zeus_, said nothing.

"—Sold! To the redhead in the front!" The announcer finished and everyone began cheering. Axel grinned triumphantly and locked eyes with Roxas to blow him a kiss. Roxas frowned at him as he walked off of the stage. Hmm…what was he so worried about?

"And you plan to pay for him _how_?" Riku demanded, narrowing his eyes at him. "There's no way in hell you have six thousand dollars to spare. What about rent? What about _food_?"

Axel leaned back in his seat with a little grin on his face. "I'll get the money. Don't worry."

Riku glanced at him doubtfully, a tiny little crease marring his otherwise admittedly attractive face. "Without stealing?"

Axel's grin grew even wider. "I won't steal it." _It's not stealing if they give it to me willingly. _"Just relax. I'll have my prize."

* * *

Roxas stood in front of the mirror in the dressing room and tousled his hair to make it look more on the normal side. There. If Axel did manage to get six thousand dollars—which he doubted wholeheartedly—then he wanted to look cute for their date.

Sora appeared in the mirror beside him, frowning unhappily at Roxas' reflection. "Rox…why couldn't Riku have bought me?"

Roxas rolled his eyes at him. "C'mon, Sora. You know Riku probably didn't have the money. Besides, isn't Leon the one who persuaded you to enter this thing? I kind of assumed that meant he was going to be the one to buy you."

"Yeah, I know…it's just…when I was onstage, and Riku lifted his number…I just felt so happy I didn't know what to do. Now all of that happiness is gone. Now I'll never get a date with Riku!" Sora explained pitifully before collapsing on him. Roxas lost his footing and they both fell to the ground, the two of them becoming a tangled Strife twin mess.

"Sora!" Roxas shouted, trying to get up but failing miserably. "For the love of—he's probably planning to ask you out anyway!"

Sora groaned but extracted himself from his twin's body. "Yeah, right."

Roxas opened his mouth to protest, but at that moment, the suitors all filed into the room, holding briefcases and bags that no doubt held their money. Leon was among the first men to enter, making a beeline for Sora. Jeez, the guy was walking as if his life depended on it. Weird. Maybe he _did_ like Sora.

Roxas watched Leon and Sora talk for a moment—they looked deep in conversation—before glancing back at the door expectantly, waiting for Axel. Where was he? The end of the line of men came sooner than he expected and…Axel wasn't there.

He sighed. Of course…there was no way Axel got that money. He turned around to begin gathering his things. Maybe he would be given to that strange masked man who bid on him. Hopefully he wasn't too creepy.

There was a sudden scream from the bidding room, a shrill shriek that sounded as if it had ripped itself from the throat of the screamer. Leon and Sora looked at each other before sprinting out of the room, followed by most of the bidders and prizes. Roxas blinked, feeling frozen for some reason. Whatever was going on out there was bad…and he wasn't ready to face it just yet.

It was while he was standing in the middle of the room, alone and confused, that Axel strolled in, casually whistling as if nothing was happening. Roxas stared at him in complete shock. So Axel _did_ manage to get the money. But how? And what was going on in the other room? Why wasn't Axel freaking out as well? He seemed so…nonchalant.

"Well hello, my lovely little prize." Axel purred, circling Roxas slowly like a lion getting ready to pounce. "You look good enough to _eat_."

Roxas ignored the pounding of his heart. This was no time to be flirting. "What's going on? I heard a scream from the bidding room and then everyone went—"

Axel waved him off. "It's fine. That announcer guy—the one who was a dick to you—apparently got hurt or something. Oh, and robbed. But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. The only thing you should be worried about is figuring out where our date is going to be."

"Hurt how?" Roxas wanted to know, his blue eyes widening and his face softening in sympathy for that guy. Axel was right, he _was_ a dick. But that didn't mean he wanted harm to come to him.

Axel shrugged, looking away from those wide, honest blue eyes. "He was eaten or something. He's still alive though. Just…missing some pieces. Anyway, I have the money. I'm just short five hundred dollars."

Axel had to bite the inside of his cheek to hide a scowl. That stupid human didn't have enough money on him for Roxas' payment. Luckily, he was sure he'd be able to get by with what he already had. It was just way too risky to try to scam another human with Leon still there.

Thankfully, the money aspect of his response was enough to distract Roxas from the whole man-getting-eaten-alive part. The blonde gave him an exasperated look. "If you didn't have enough money, why did you bid that high?"

"Because I wanted you." Axel replied simply, leaning against the wall and giving Roxas' a sultry once-over. "Who _wouldn't_ want you?"

"Uh, you?" Roxas retorted as he folded his arms, but his cheeks were reddening despite his words. "We're just friends, remember?"

Axel chuckled. The kid was never going to let him live that down. "Friends can…_admire_ friends, can't they? I got an idea, how about you just lend me the five hundred dollars? It's for charity, after all."

Roxas sighed and reached into his bag, pulling out a couple of fifties to cover Axel. Thank Zeus he pulled out cash from the bank just in case of an emergency. "Fine. But you owe me. And I have the right to cash in that favor whenever I want and in whatever _way_ I want, okay?"

"Okay." Axel agreed, smirking like a cat that had just caught a canary. "You stay here, I'll go drop off the cash."

Axel inwardly sighed in relief as Roxas nodded and sat in a chair by the window, patiently waiting for his return. Thank Zeus he didn't want to investigate the announcer's spontaneous assault. Axel's scent was all over that man's body. Since Roxas wasn't too keen on investigating, he wouldn't be a problem…but Leon would surely notice and now maybe even Sora. He needed to just drop off this money and leave quickly.

Quietly, he left the room and headed towards the money depositing station, sticking to the shadows. Around him, more and more people were running towards the bidding room. Unable to resist, he poked his head inside.

Sora was struggling to keep the bystanders at bay while Leon and his team inspected the quivering half-body that wouldn't budge from the corner of the room. Axel couldn't help but chuckle at that one; he'd told the poor sucker not to move from that spot for another hour or he would eat the rest of him whole.

He would _never_ eat him whole.

That would ruin his diet.

Sora looked up at him, his blue eyes catching his own in an act of awful timing for Axel. Smile fading, Axel looked away, suddenly feeling ashamed. No doubt that dick deserved what he got. Jeez, what did Sora expect? He was a _demon_, for Zeus' sake! Still…maybe he didn't have to freak the dude out so much. Maybe he could have just robbed him.

Axel shook his head and kept walking, his strides faster now that Sora had seen him. He still wasn't sure what that Strife's game was. Finally reaching the hall where a woman stood beside a long safe, Axel put on his most charming grin. It worked. The woman, who had been shaking like a leaf blown too hard in the wind, relaxed instantly at his appearance. "Hi," she mumbled.

"Hi!" Axel responded, caressing her hand as he put the money in it. "This here is from my purchase of Roxas Strife. Think you could take care of that for me?"

The woman blushed and practically threw herself into her job. "O-Of course! Right away sir, mister, man…guy."

He winked at her. "Thanks." Sighing, Axel turned around to go get Roxas…but ran into the other Strife instead. Sora stood in his path, folding his arms with a little frown on his face. Axel grinned, trying to hide his anxiousness at being held up. "Hey cutie. To what do I owe this visit?"

Zeus, his charm was working overtime tonight.

Sora blushed—predictable—but kept his defensive stance. "I know you attacked that guy. With your teeth or something. In the bidding room."

Axel's grin sharpened into a smirk. "What, are we playing Clue? Did your BFF Leon even bother to teach you the rules of the game?"

Sora's confidence wavered for a moment as confusion flashed in his eyes. "Leon isn't my…BFF. Riku's always been—"

"—Your best friend? Because from what I hear, you've been slacking in that department. Too busy chasing after innocent demons who have done nothing but be born this way." Axel chided, wagging a finger at him. But to his dismay, his index finger was sporting a rather incriminating splash of blood on the tip. Doing the only thing he could think of, he shoved the finger in his mouth and sucked on it.

Sora's eyes bugged out of their sockets and in his haste to get away from him, he stumbled over his own legs and fell on his butt. Axel, ignoring the pleasant tingle that fresh human blood always gave him, raised both of his eyebrows at him. "What are you doing down there?

"Trying to get away from you before you eat me, obviously!" Sora hissed, practically crawling backwards. "You really _are_ a demon! And not a nice one!"

That hurt. He'd wanted nothing more than to be around the Strifes. To have one of them hate him…it was…that was like a slap in the face. Spluttering, he protested, "Hey, I _am_ nice! What, you think all demons hold themselves back the way I have?"

Before Sora could respond, the perverted man who had challenged Riku and Leon for a date with Sora suddenly appeared beside them. Axel and Sora exchanged bewildered looks. Uh…

"Hey Sora, my name's…Rick. Let's go with Rick." The man—Rick—said smoothly. Axel tilted his head at him suspiciously. He smelled funny. His scent was both revolting and familiar at the same time, and he couldn't pinpoint why his predatory instincts were going crazy.

Sora scratched the back of his head, looking adorably confused, but responded politely. "It's nice to meet you Rick. You were the guy who bid on me, right?"

Rick nodded, a sly smirk beginning to tug on his lips. "Yeah, that's me. Lost to Leon, the fucker. But don't worry. He agreed to give you up in exchange for a list of names related to his little hunting business. Oh, didn't think I knew about that, did you? Well, I'm well versed in demonology. I'm practically an expert."

Sora gaped at him, then turned to Axel in completely shock. Axel stared back at him, blinking in mutual surprise. Rick smirked at their reactions before shrugging and grabbing Sora's wrist. "Let's go, date."

Axel growled at him, taking Sora's other wrist and tugging him back towards him. "I don't think so, pal."

Rick yanked Sora back towards him with surprising force. Right as Axel prepared to retaliate and go all demon on his ass, Rick crooked his finger and gave him a chiding look. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Your demon scent is already all over this place, thanks to your little snack. One more kill in this area and you'll be caught and killed by Leon faster than you can say sorry. Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll turn around and let Sora and I go on our date."

Damn it. Little shit was right. He couldn't enter his demon state right now, not when Leon and his entire fucking team were on his trail. Helplessly, he watched as Rick dragged Sora Strife away from him and out of the building through the exit.

* * *

Sora was so afraid he felt frozen. He couldn't believe Leon had basically sold him to this demon…who clearly planned to eat him in a similar fashion to that announcer guy. He had hardly even started his hunter training, so he didn't have any experience in slaying a demon. With his luck, he would only manage to piss him off.

His only option was to go with Rick and hope he didn't get killed. Or worse, raped…

Rick led him to his car, located creepily away from all of the other cars in its own lot. There were no streetlights or buildings around it. It was completely isolated. Sora's heart sunk. Shit…he was going to die tonight, no doubt about it.

He was going to die a virgin! Now he would never know what it felt like to feel Riku's body on top of his own…thrusting…convulsing around him…coming…

Rick sniffed and smiled sinisterly, glancing sideways at Sora as they reached the car. "You smell delicious when you're aroused. I can't wait to get a better whiff later tonight."

His mouth dropped open in horror. _Shit_…forget this…he needed to make a run for it! Making a quick skid on the pavement, Sora went sprinting back to the building, screaming for his life. Of course, Rick caught him with ease, pushing Sora to the ground like he was tackling a football player. Snarling, Rick licked his neck for a quick little taste. "You got a fight in you. I don't like it. I need to taste you now…make you a little more compliant. Spread your legs."

Suddenly, Rick's body was thrown all the way across the street, into the shadows. Sora watched in horror, completely immobile, as Rick began to scream in complete agony. Thick, chunky blood splashed onto the brick wall next to the shadows while limbs and organs began to go flying everywhere.

Rick let out one more ear-splitting scream before his voice was cut off, followed by the sound of ripping. Out of nowhere, his head went soaring in the sky before landing beside Sora's feet. The expression on Rick's face was horrifying, and Sora wasn't sure he'd ever be able to erase it from his mind, no matter how scary Rick was before.

It suddenly became eerily silent. He felt a drop of sweat run down his face as his heart rate picked up speed. Whoever it was who just tore Rick to shreds might be after him next!

In the blink of an eye, the shadow appeared behind him, pressing his chest against his back. As Sora's heart pounded, the voice, so seductive and familiar, whispered in his ear,

"Be sure of this…I will always protect a Strife."

Then the presence vanished.

Sora let out a shaky breath, even as relief flooded him. He knew that voice. It really could only have been one person.

Axel.

* * *

Roxas walked home from the charity event, sighing forlornly to himself. First, Axel avoided him for two weeks. Then he showed up out of nowhere and bought him so no other guy could go on a date with him. But the second Roxas gave him some money, he ditched him! What was up with that?!

Maybe he just needed to face the truth. Axel clearly wasn't serious about him.

But no sooner as he thought this, Axel appeared beside him, walking casually as if he'd been there the whole time. Roxas jumped ten feet in the air, gasping in complete shock. The hell?

"What…where did you come from?!" He cried, clutching his chest as he struggled to breathe. "You scared the shit out of me!"

Axel shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry…seems that I've been doing that a lot."

Roxas, calming down a bit, thrust his hands in his jacket pockets and shrugged too. "It's okay."

At least he wasn't ditched like a cheap prom date. They walked together in silence, one brooding and one introspective. Finally, Axel broke the silence.

"Roxas?"

He looked at him expectantly. "Yeah?"

Axel gave him a grim half-smile. "I know I've been doing this half-assed. But believe me, it has to be this way. I can't have you, okay? But that doesn't mean I don't care for you or that I don't _want_ you."

Roxas felt a rush of adrenaline flood his body and his heart began to pound. So was Axel saying he really did like him more than friends? It was just that, for whatever reason, he didn't think he was good enough for Roxas. Pssh…nothing was more ironic than someone thinking _he_ was better than them.

"Axel, I'm not that great. Really. The only thing special about me is that I can be grouchier than the average person. But it's just a parlor trick. I'm not better than anyone else. I'm not special." Roxas admitted, his cheeks flaming in embarrassment. Axel stopped walking, throwing out an arm to stop Roxas too.

He took Roxas' face in his hands, adjusting his posture so that they were eye level. Green eyes bore into blue ones. "Roxas. You are _so_ special."

No, he really wasn't. But he couldn't formulate words, not when Axel was looking at him like that. Suddenly, something caught his attention, effectively breaking the spell Axel had him in.

"Is that blood on your lip?" He asked in concern, reaching up on his tiptoes to lick it off. "You must have bitten your lip too hard."

Axel abruptly straightened, becoming too tall for the much shorter Roxas to reach. The blonde silently seethed. Damn him…

"It's nothing. You're right, I probably bit it." Axel murmured, running his tongue over his lips. Roxas watched hungrily, feeling a stirring in the bottom of his stomach. The redhead winked at him, knowing exactly what he was doing.

Roxas looked away grumpily and started walking again. "Come on…let's go to my place for our date. Did you think I was going to forget? You can cook me dinner."

* * *

The pair entered Roxas' apartment and decided that Axel would cook them lasagna for dinner, given that was all Roxas' had the ingredients for. After the blonde watched Axel cook, humming to himself softly as he watched him dance around the kitchen, they decided to wait for the lasagna to cook in the living room, where they could be more comfy.

"So," Axel began, stretching languidly in a way that caused his shirt to raise a couple of inches. "How should I repay you, kid?"

Roxas eyed the man's belly button—Zeus, what he would give to lick it—and slowly lowered himself on the couch. If he was allowed any favor and he only got one…and it couldn't be sex…it was going to have to be something that he really wanted to do.

Or see.

"Strip for me." Roxas all but whispered, gazing hungrily at the small hint of flesh still peeking from underneath Axel's shirt. Yes, he _needed_ to see more of this man. He was desperate for it. Besides, Axel owed him this. Honestly, the fucking redheaded tease was getting his friendship for free. That was more than enough compensation for a quick striptease.

Axel met serious blue eyes with a look of hesitation. Somehow, given the nature of the dreams he was having every night, he didn't think this was a very good idea. Fuck, he could hardly keep the blonde off of him with his clothes _on_. Not that he considered that a bad thing. But really, it was becoming harder and harder to resist the sexiest Strife of them all.

"I don't think—"

"I'm cashing in my favor. Deal's a deal, Rosebud." Roxas interrupted cheekily, winking at him when he frowned. "Come on, strip for me."

Axel sighed, fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt a little self-consciously. It wasn't that he wasn't proud of his body, because, please, he was sexy as hell. It was just that it was a wee bit intimidating to be stripping in front of the boy that was primarily responsible for him waking up with sticky boxers and covered in sweat.

But he was no punk. And Roxas would probably think he was some kind of coward if he couldn't even take off his clothes in front of him. So he was going to have to nut up or shut up!

Slowly, slightly trembling hands slid up a lean chest, caressing skin as they danced across flesh. Fingers couldn't help but toy with dusky nipples…oh sweet Zeus, Roxas' expression…before finally removing the shirt completely.

Blue eyes darkened with lust but still watched him expectantly, waiting for more. Axel shivered under the gaze. Jeez, he never thought it would be _him_ that would be trembling under a hot gaze…especially one from one of the forbidden Strife brothers. Without even realizing it, Roxas had leaned over and turned on his iPod speakers, letting a sexy song come wafting in the room.

This kid was a pro!

Against his will, Axel's hips began to move to the sultry beat of the song, earning a bitten lip from his little audience member. Encouraged, he moved more loosely, getting kind of into it. His left hand moved up his torso again to rest in soft red hair while his other hand went south, resting just above his crotch. Knowingly, he met those intense blue eyes with smirking green ones.

"Like what you see so far?" He asked in amusement, smirking outright as he slid a quick hand over the bulge in his pants before coming back up to his hip. This was getting out of hand quickly—he was going to need release eventually since he actually seemed to be _getting off on this_ and the kid would be there as fast as lighting—but it was just so much damn fun to see Roxas salivating over him that he couldn't help himself anymore.

Roxas felt a slight prick of pain and absently acknowledged that he had bit his lip so hard that he made himself bleed. Zeus this was either the best or worst idea he had ever had! Axel looked so sexy…and the way he was dancing!

"More." He breathed against his will, clutching the couch to keep himself from going over and ripping the man's clothes off himself. "Please."

Axel groaned a little and sloppily hopped out of his jeans, eager to please Roxas. Zeus, he was completely under his spell now. The blonde had him wrapped around his little finger, and damn him, he was totally aware of it.

But once he was just in his boxers, he slowed down, moving sensually again. He wasn't ready for this to be over…not yet. He wasn't sure what was going to happen when those underwear came off, but he had a hunch that he knew, and he wasn't in the mood to turn Roxas down again.

Fingers ghosted over a bulge, pulled back, dipped inside, then came back out again as Axel danced to the sexy music. Roxas looked about ready to burst after a while, so he decided to show some mercy and take off his boxers for the kid. If there was one thing he _wasn't_ ashamed of, it was his nether regions, so any chance he had to show that part of him off, he took.

But right as fingers tightened over elastic and prepared to jerk downwards, the oven timer went off, indicating the lasagna was ready. Roxas groaned as Axel's fingers quickly retreated. Holy shit…he was about to show the kid his…his…!

"Keep going?" Roxas suggested, but it was too late. The spell was broken. Axel smiled ruefully as he hastily snatched his jeans and pulled them back up his hips. Roxas sighed loudly, standing up to get the food since it looked like he was going to be denied Axel's delicious, sexy body. Again. "Whatever. I'm going to get the lasagna."

Axel ran a hand through his hair, willing his body to calm down. No one was getting laid tonight. His groin needed to just accept that fact and his mind needed to _never try this shit again_.

* * *

Cloud opened up the restaurant, sighing in contentment. It was good to be back. Leon, the sourpuss that he was, couldn't find it in him to agree in the slightest bit.

"Are you going to stay mad at me forever?" Cloud asked, teasingly slapping Leon's ass. The other man yelped indignantly before he blushed. He hid his burning face in his hair, which was starting to get a little shaggy.

"Cloud, I'm not your plaything."

The blonde shrugged and continued about his duties, whistling to himself. Sephiroth's visit had done wonders for his mood. Sure, they were forced to cut their reunion short when Seph was summoned in by the council to undergo an interview round for the open seat. But it was still better than being alone. Seph had already stayed longer than usual. The only reason he went back was because he wanted to "take care of something" for a friend.

He didn't know Seph _had_ any friends.

"Look, I'm sorry I was gone for so long. I didn't realize how much time had passed. Everything gets blurry and fuzzy when I'm with Seph." Cloud mulled, dreamily washing his hands in the sink. Leon watched with narrowed eyes as Cloud practically floated around the kitchen, beginning to prepare the breakfast menu items.

"You know I can't let this continue. It's bad enough I let Sephiroth even breathe when he's right under my nose, exactly where I want him." Leon pointed out brusquely, folding his arms and leaning against the counter. "He's a _demon_, for Zeus' sake. As a hunter, I'm doing a shitty job protecting you."

Cloud paused before breaking an egg in the frying pan to look at Leon. _Really_ look at him. Quietly, he asked him, "Have you considered that I'm the one protecting _you_ from demons?"

"That's ridiculous! I'm perfectly capable of—"

"Sephiroth is being considered for a position with the council of the Succubus Society. The last thing he needs is the Huntsmen running around, killing demons just because they exist. If it wasn't for me, you'd have been dead a long time ago." Cloud cut in, resuming his cooking nonchalantly. "You should leave Axel alone, too, before you get Sephiroth involved."

Now _that_ was something Leon simply wouldn't do. "No way! I may be granting your little boyfriend—"

"Little?" Cloud interrupted wryly. Leon continued as if he hadn't heard him.

"—amnesty, but that doesn't mean I've slacked off on my duties. All demons are dangerous. Axel is no exception. He is the first one on my hit list. And as soon as I get to the bottom of that list, Sephiroth will be getting what he deserves."

Cloud's hand clenched around the pan he was holding as he struggled to remain calm. If Leon kept threatening Seph like this… "Maybe you should go, Leon."

"Yeah, I think maybe I should. Your Stockholm syndrome might be contagious." Leon snapped, whipping around and striding out of the kitchen. At the door, he called back testily, "Oh, and you can tell Sephiroth to bring it on. I don't want your pity or your protection. You aren't doing me any damn favors."

With a slam of the door, he was gone. Cloud frowned down at his eggs, his happy mood deflating like a week-old balloon. Leon was his best friend…he didn't want to fight with him over Sephiroth anymore. He wanted both of them in his lives. But now it looked like that just wouldn't be possible.

No sooner had he thought this, Axel strolled in the restaurant, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. He beamed brilliantly, showing off all of his perfect, sparkly clean teeth. Loudly, he greeted him. "Hi Cloud! Glad to be back?"

Cloud's frown deepened. Now he felt grumpy. "Sure. You're late."

Axel raised an eyebrow and pointed to the overhead clock. "What? I'm right on time! _You_ were just early."

"Don't sass your boss. Now come on, there's a lot of work to be done. I appreciate you taking over for me while I was gone, but it's clear that you still have a lot of learning to do." Cloud said authoritatively, reaching over to toss Axel a pair of gloves. "Start cleaning."

Axel groaned good-naturedly but got down to business. Cloud couldn't bite back a fond little grin. Okay, fine, he liked the guy. But Leon was right about one thing: demons were dangerous. They were unreliable and not easy to trust. Besides that, he didn't like how close he was getting to Roxas. Still…maybe Axel was different.

He hadn't mated with Roxas thus far and it didn't look like he was planning to. Maybe, like Sephiroth, Axel was one of the good ones.

* * *

After class a few days after the failed strip tease, Roxas and Sora stopped by The Place, bringing their homework to work on. Neither of the twins were self-motivators…they never got anything done in their individual apartments. Sometimes Roxas liked to come to The Place, just for the change of pace.

Oh, and the eye candy wasn't bad either.

As he sat in a booth across from Sora, his eyes zeroed in on the familiar, wild mane of hair that was taking down orders from a group of flirty girls that Roxas recognized from his high school. He seethed. It's not that he blamed them for trying to flirt with the guy…Axel was fucking hot! It was just…did Axel _have_ to flirt back? Why was he indulging them so easily when Roxas practically had to _beg_ for a little attention?!

"Roxas…Roxas!" Sora snapped, waving his hands in front of his face. Reluctantly, he dragged his attention from Axel to his twin. At his disgruntled expression, Roxas gave him an apologetic, mega-watt smile that managed to melt Sora's annoyance.

"Sorry, Sor. What's up?"

Sora chewed on his lip for a moment before starting with, "I've been having these weird thoughts lately…"

Roxas groaned. Not this again! "Please tell me you are not thinking about sex again. Last time you thought about sex, I was almost dragged to an orgy!"

Sora's face reddened. Indignantly, he exclaimed, "It wasn't even going to be that bad! But that's not what I was going to say, you Negatron. What I was going to say was that I've been training with Leon a lot and getting stronger. Really strong, actually."

Roxas gave him a genuine smile. "That's great, Sor!"

"Yeah." Sora chewed on his pencil for a solemn moment before quietly adding, "I miss hanging out with Riku, though."

"Really?"

"Of course I do. He _gets_ me. Leon is so…to the point. That may work for Cloud, but I need to be around someone who isn't going to think I'm an idiot for tripping over my own two feet! I…I…there was this moment the other day at the date auction when I thought to myself, 'Sora…if you died right now, what would you regret the most?' And the first thing that popped up in my mind was Riku. I would regret not being with Riku. Not telling him how I really felt." Sora stared down at his hands, his cheeks red but his voice strong and sure. Roxas smiled at him admiringly. Finally!

"Well, sounds like you need to stop wasting time and tell him that." Roxas advised, nodding towards the back of the restaurant. Sora gave him a quizzical look before turning around. Riku himself sat in the back of the room, glumly nursing a milkshake by himself.

"He looks lonely." Sora breathed, clutching the table for support. "Woah…maybe I can't do this."

Roxas glared at Sora seriously. "Sora, you can do this. Trust me…he won't reject you."

Unlike Axel.

As Sora got up and slowly walked towards Riku, red suddenly blocked his view. Startled, he blinked and saw—Axel. Of course. The man seemed to be able to _sense_ when he was thinking about him.

"May I take your order?" Axel asked him cheekily, giving him a charming smile. Roxas flushed and immediately looked down at the table. Too much sexiness at once!

"Hey, Axel. What's up?" He mumbled, trying not to fidget. He could _feel_ Axel's green eyes on him, sliding up and down his body like he was something to eat.

Axel glanced over his shoulder, looking to see if Cloud was watching, before sliding into the seat across from Roxas. He grinned, his teeth looking sharper than usual. "How are you?"

Deciding to take a page from his own book, he took his own advice and took a risk. "Axel, are you seeing anyone else?"

Axel made a face, visibly balking at the idea. "No way. Like I have time to even _look_ at anyone else."

Roxas considered this. Anyone…_else_? Did that mean him? Or did that mean he just wasn't interested in anybody at all? "Okay. I'm not seeing anyone either."

Axel smirked cockily, looking like he had just told him something he was already sure of, like the world being round. "I figured."

Swallowing back the word vomit that arose from pure annoyance, he pursed his lips. It was time to get serious and get some damn answers. "Axel, why exactly can't we—"

"Axel! What the hell are you doing? Get that ass back to work, now!" Cloud suddenly shouted from the back. Axel flinched and shot him a rueful, apologetic look.

"Duty calls. Come back in a couple of hours, I'm closing. You can make yourself useful."

Before Roxas could respond, Axel was gone, charming the customers in the exact way Roxas wanted to be wooed. Damn.

Well, fine. He'd come back and get his answers later.

* * *

Axel hid his panic behind a mask of cheerfulness as he worked, but on the inside, he was freaking out. Roxas was reaching the ultimatum stage. Any fool could see that. He had a sinking feeling that the next time they spoke, Roxas would be saying something along the lines of, _"It's all of me or nothing, Axel. Take your pick."_

Roxas Strife was no dimwit. He could obviously see that he was being jerked around and he was getting tired of it. Axel couldn't blame him. He was tired of doing the jerking!

And he meant that in all sorts of ways.

Besides that, he was running out of time to find a mate other than Roxas. He knew he had _some_ time left, but not really enough to build an actual relationship.

Screw it. He'd just find someone who wanted to fuck him and mate with them. The love would come later.

As the day winded to a close and everyone began leaving the restaurant one by one, he ran through his options. Okay, Roxas wanted to know what was up. He couldn't tell the kid that he was a demon trying to do the right thing—he'd think he was insane! That, or get pissed for not telling him. Or worse…actually want to mate with him of his own free will.

That would be…wonderful, actually. Roxas Strife by his side, forever! That—

No. Roxas wanted to be a Struggle champion so he could get off of this island and do something with his life. He refused to ruin this kid's life.

Alright, what was the next best option? Well, he could lie. Say he was pinning after Zexion or some bullshit. Ew…even thinking something like that made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Axel, remember, you're locking up tonight. Thanks for all of your hard work. See you in the morning." Cloud called out to him as he headed towards the door. Axel nodded in response, chewing on his lip absently. He had so much on his mind…

Cloud paused at the door, turning around to look back at him with a contemplative expression on his face. "Hey, Axel. Were you sent to the surface late? Mating season ends tomorrow."

Axel suddenly felt dizzy. He was sent from the Succubus Society with all of the other demons here for mating season. But…but…he thought he had more time! Like…two months at least!

His mind thought back to his calendar. When was the last time he'd changed that damn thing? Usually Zex changed it for him, but for some reason he hadn't popped by in weeks. Axel had been so busy working and thinking about Roxas, he'd barely noticed.

_Shit_.

"Fine, keep it to yourself. I'll see you tomorrow." Cloud said exasperatedly, turning on his heel and leaving the restaurant. Axel stood in the silence of The Place, his face paler than usual and his skin feeling clammy and otherworldly.

He was going to die tomorrow.

* * *

Instead of counting the day's earnings, Roxas watched Axel clean The Place with curiosity and a touch of awe. The tall, attractive-as-always redhead was going over every crevice of the restaurant carefully, slowly cleaning each surface so it looked sparkling. He had no doubt that Axel was an amazing employee, but he definitely didn't expect him to be so…meticulous. Even Riku wasn't that anal.

"You have an awful lot of pride for someone whose job is to be Cloud's bitch." Roxas observed dryly, but he couldn't hide the admiring twinkle from his eyes. The fact that Axel actually cared about his job, not matter how much meaningless work it actually was, was sweet and unbearably adorable.

"I've never had an honest job before. Being a criminal for a living has always sort of been my MO." Axel admitted quietly, stashing his cleaning materials in the closet and hopping on the counter to join Roxas. "Does that scare you, kid?"

Roxas rolled his eyes but remained silent, instead focusing on counting the rest of the day's change. It was obvious that Axel was still trying to put distance between them. All this talk about "scaring him off" just proved it.

"What does it matter?" He finally answered when he finished counting. "Your future boyfriend is the one whose reaction you should care about."

Now Axel was the one to fall silent, instead turning to look around at the spotless, dark and empty restaurant. Roxas squinted at him. Axel was acting really strange. Well, whatever. There were things he needed to say.

"We both know we'd be great together, Rosebud. I just can't figure out why you insist on staying away from me." Roxas mulled, jumping from the counter to put the cash away. Axel watched his hips swish predatorily, resisting the urge to make those hips move for an entirely different reason.

"Well," Axel began slowly, getting down from the counter and sauntering over to the sassy blonde, "I'm obviously failing at doing so."

Roxas swirled around to retort, but was startled to see Axel right there, towering over him with a hungry glint in his eyes. He swallowed thickly, fighting to keep his voice from wavering. "W-What…what are you doing?"

"Staying away from you." Axel whispered in his hair. Why should he resist anymore? It was only a kiss…

Roxas instantly melted in his arms, running his fingers cautiously up and down his back. Axel's fingers danced down the boy's body, stopping to caress those two perfect globes before suddenly squeezing them. Hard.

One minute Roxas was yelping, and the next he was kissing him with abandon, jumping on Axel and wrapping his small legs around his torso. The second their tongues intertwined, both of them sighed contently, wetness touching wetness…_needing_ each other.

With every passing second, Axel could actually feel his resistance leaving his body. He experimentally pulled his lips away from Roxas but the other set of lips defiantly sought his out again.

Shit, shit, shit. This was a mistake. One did not simply _kiss_ Roxas Strife. Axel felt himself slowly losing more and more control as Roxas just kept coming at him with that gorgeous mouth of his. Not that Axel was complaining. But at this rate, he'd be tossing Roxas on the floor, ripping off his pants, and taking him before five minutes was up.

Axel found the strength to push Roxas away again, but the blonde only rained more wonderful kisses upon him, murmuring, "Don't push me away…If you give me your heart, I swear I'll never break it."

His heart dropped in his stomach. Somehow, he had fallen in love with the little Pandora's box without even noticing.

"Please resist me." Axel whispered back, kissing Roxas' neck with reckless abandonment. The blonde moaned in his arms. "Don't have feelings for me."

"Too late." Roxas retorted before arching his back in bliss as Axel sucked on one of his pleasure points. "I want you to touch me. Be the first."

_Virgin_?

Axel's senses went into survival mode. His predatory instincts kicked in, and no longer did he hear his conscience. All he knew was that he needed to make Roxas _his_ before anyone else did and live. _Live_. He promptly picked Roxas up like the kid weighed nothing, tossed him on the counter, and pinned him down with his own body. Startled blue eyes stared into seductive, dark green ones, before their lips met again forcefully.

Wasting no time, Axel grabbed both of Roxas' legs and yanked them closer to him so that their erections were directly against one another. Then, with a devilish smirk that made Roxas shiver, he grinded into him, dragging out erotic noises that the small boy was unaware he was capable of making. Each thrust reminded Roxas of sex, and with every pound came a wave of pleasure that settled into the pit of his belly. Axel looked unrecognizable; a dark sexual energy had overcome him, and it appeared that nothing would stop this from happening tonight.

Or at least, that's what he thought until the doors of The Place opened suddenly. Both of them paused to see who it was…

"Axel. Stop this." Zexion snapped, walking into the restaurant with irritation. "Please tell me you haven't had sex with this Strife!"

Roxas sighed, unwrapping his legs from around Axel's body with a touch of regret. Damn…so close this time... "No. There hasn't been any sex happening."

Zexion glared at him in annoyance. "You could at least try to hide your disappointment, Strife."

Roxas shrugged, but he still managed to look away apologetically. Zexion turned back to glare at Axel. "Do you know what I have been through to reach you? They intercepted my visa, saw it was a fake, and threw me in the dungeon. I had to maim, fuck, and kill most of the inmates before one of them finally agreed to help me escape. And what do I find? My best friend fooling around with a goddamn Strife brother!"

Axel said nothing; he was still trying to get his wits about him…his head was foggy with lust. Besides, he couldn't lie so soon after sharing such intimacy with Roxas. There was no way he could trust his words right now.

He groaned internally. This was all falling apart. Roxas was looking at him so hopefully. Yes, he wanted to be with Roxas, but mating with him would be the most selfish thing he could ever do. For once he was trying to be a good guy, but no one was letting him.

"Be honest for once, will you?" Roxas begged quietly, folding his arms. "How do you feel about me?"

Axel cleared his throat and concentrated on his shoe laces. Finally, he mumbled softly, "I'm in love with Roxas."

One grinned blissfully while the other's face fell in despair.

Zexion looked on at them in dismay. "Axel, you can't be thinking what I think you are!"

_That he was going to die rather than mate with Roxas?_ "Yes, Zex. That's exactly what I plan to do. There's just no way I can find someone in a few hours…"

Zexion let out a pained howl, the most emotion Axel had ever seen from him. Then, without another word, he left The Place and vanished into the night.

The restaurant was eerily silent.

"We probably need a little space right now, huh?" Roxas mulled, staring at him with a careful, controlled expression. "What do you think?"

Axel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't even think right now, kid."

"I know. That's why I should give you space to…I don't know? I'm not even sure what you two were talking about. But if what you said about Zex being in love with you is true, he must be hurting. So I'm just going to go…for now." Roxas offered awkwardly. Not waiting for a reply, he gingerly began packing up his stuff. Axel watched him silently, unsure of what to do next. Well, this was just great.

"Bye, Axel." Roxas said softly, standing by the door. Axel stared at him longingly. Zeus, he wanted him. But how could he ask Roxas to make such a sacrifice? No…he was just going to have to die. Or…find a mate in a few hours.

"And…I love you too." Roxas added, before quickly leaving The Place. Axel's heart hammered in his chest and he tried to get it under control. After a second of that—and failing to command it—he gave up. This heart might not be beating by the end of the day, anyway. Why not let it do what it wanted?

* * *

Sora fiddled nervously with his fork, looking everywhere but at the perfect, beautiful specimen sitting in front of him. This was his first real date with Riku and he didn't want to mess it up! His former best friend probably already thought he was a spaz! It was wonder that he even got this date!

By a stroke of luck, Riku had been missing Sora just as much as he had missed him. After going to him in The Place and talking to him as per Roxas' advice, he discovered that his best friend had feelings for him. Like, actual full-blown romantic _feelings_. Just like the ones Sora had hid for so long out of fear.

"Sora." Riku chuckled, interrupting his fiddling. Blue eyes snapped to gorgeous aquamarine. "Yeah?"

Riku gave him a dazzling smile. "I'm nervous, too."

Sora's mouth popped open in a rather unattractive way. There was no possible way Riku could be nervous! He looked like the picture of ease! _Sora_ was the one that wasn't used to elegant restaurants like this…Riku looked like he belonged in places like this without even trying.

Intelligently, he countered with, "Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh." Riku replied, holding out his left hand. When Sora only stared blankly at it, Riku brought it closer to his confused blue eyes. "I'm shaking. See?"

Sora did see. And once he fully registered the fact that Riku actually wasn't kidding about liking him back and was just as anxious about dating as he was, he felt like his heart was going to explode from how fast it was beating.

"That's pretty sexy." Sora admitted quietly, looking away from him. Riku watched him for a long second before promptly dropping his napkin on the table. Standing up, he peered down at Sora and winked. "Wanna have sex?"

The brunette flushed, and suddenly it felt really hot. The only thing that might cool him down would be indulging Riku in his dark desires right this second. At least, that's what his sex-starved brain rationalized. "Yep."

Thank Zeus they hadn't ordered anything yet. As they passed by the tables, weaving their way around the restaurant and towards the exit, Sora took note of all the lovely daters, smiling to himself. Now that he had Riku, he was going to be one of them from now on.

But as his eyes flitted around the area, he couldn't help but spot familiar, bright red hair in the corner by the door. Squinting, he was just able to make out…Axel!

Sora's immediate smile faded into a confused frown. Axel wasn't with Roxas…he was with someone Sora had never seen before. Some beautiful girl with bright pink hair. And their hands…they were touching!

Crap. He needed to tell his brother immediately.

* * *

_Knock knock knock! Knock knock! KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! _

Obnoxious, incessant knocking on Axel's apartment door was the beautiful wake-up call Axel received on his last day of living. He groaned grouchily. Obviously, his last day on Earth was going to be a _great_ one.

He took his sweet time getting out of bed, savoring every movement, every protest from his sleepy muscles. Axel had never really thought much about how he was going to spend this day—especially because he never thought this day would be happening so soon—but he'd always known he was going to take it slow. He lived his life so quickly. He wanted to experience a little bit of it slowly.

When he finally reached the door, he gently wrapped his fingers around the knob and pulled the door open…

…to see a disgruntled, red-faced Roxas Strife.

His heart leapt in his chest at the sight of him. His eyes scanned every inch of Roxas greedily…knowing he would never see his perfect face again. But before he allowed himself to get too excited, he noticed those beautiful blue eyes were rimmed red with puffy skin surrounding them. Shit…he'd been crying. But why? There was no way he'd be able to enjoy his last day with Roxas looking so miserable.

"What's the matter?" He asked him, tugging him inside. Once the door was closed, Roxas whirled around and glared at him. Axel frowned. "What?"

"Who were you having dinner with last night after I left?" Roxas demanded, folding his arms while he waited for a response. "Well?"

Axel shrugged dismissively, walking into the kitchen to get a beer. Eh, so it was two in the afternoon…it was happy hour somewhere, right? Over his shoulder, he called out, "I don't even remember the girl's name."

Disbelief and hurt showed on Roxas' face before he quickly schooled his features into a passive expression. "So you're having one night stands with girls now?"

Axel sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled red spikes. "Nah…that date was more like a dying man fighting for his last breath, you know? I've never really been into one night stands."

Roxas strode over to him, raising his fist to deck him—something Axel probably deserved right now—but instead wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Surprise flickered on Axel's face. "Kid?"

Roxas buried his face in Axel's chest and inhaled his scent. He always smelled so irresistible. "Why do you keep trying to pull away from me?"

Axel didn't know what to say to that. The correct answer, obviously, was "because I'm a demon." But he couldn't say that! Roxas would stop being his friend/whatever they were, and—

Wait. He was going to be dead soon anyway. Why not tell him? He didn't really have anything to lose since he was already going to lose his life…

"I'm a demon." Axel announced, stepping out of Roxas' embrace and gazing down at him. "That's why I've been keeping you at a distance."

Roxas stared at him in confusion. Why was Axel making this stuff up? Then his face fell. Maybe he was trying to hide the fact that he was interested in someone else by creating some kind of weird, fake explanation. Wow…he just hurt his own feelings. "Don't do that, please…"

The blonde wouldn't look at him, giving Axel the distinct impression that he was going to burst into tears at any second. Damn…he knew this would happen. He was going to have to prove it.

"Look, I'm serious. I'm a demon." Axel insisted, raising his voice a little in his frustration. Roxas glared up at him and before he could stop himself, he had punched the redhead in the arm. Hard.

"Stop it!"

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Shut up!"

"Then see for yourself!" Axel yelled back in impatience, and before he knew it, he had unearthed his demon self in front of a human he had not binded with.

Roxas gasped at the sight of this…this…new Axel. Instead of red hair in the form of spikes, fire billowed around Axel's head—real, actual fire! A pair of heavy, unbelievably sharp chakrams materialized in his hands. Large, long ebony wings extended on either side of him, fluttering as they took up the span of the whole room.

Axel's entire aura was different. It was menacing, seductive, and dangerous. He was terrifying!

Just to emphasis his scariness—in case Roxas was thinking that the only scary thing about him was his hair—Axel showcased one of his more dangerous abilities: fire breathing. He casually breathed a very large amount of fire out of his mouth and into the wall next to Roxas' head. Blue eyes widened even more as he stared at the big burn in the wall…a burn that managed to rip into the wallpaper and singe the casing underneath.

"You scared?" Axel asked him, his voice lower and deeper. Roxas tried to stop the beating of his heart, but he found he couldn't really do anything but nod once in response to his question. Axel smirked, his teeth long and sharp, and the blonde struggled not to shit himself.

"Good. That means you're sane." He replied, before rolling his eyes and pointing to his hair. "You don't really have to be that scared, though. The fire won't burn you—I control it. I would never hurt you."

Roxas blinked a couple of times to get his functions working again. And once they were, the only rational thing he could think to do was punch him again in the same arm. Axel winced at him in protest. "Hey!"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" He shouted, reaching behind him to grab a bowl before throwing it at him. Axel raised one chakram up just in time to deflect it, sending the bowl spiraling into the wall. As it shattered into a million pieces, Axel and Roxas just stared at each other.

"I was afraid you wouldn't accept me—" Axel began, but Roxas shook his head and cut him off with a very loud cry of "bullshit!"

When Axel fell silent, Roxas raised his voice again. "That's bullshit and you know it! We both know how crazy I am about you. I accept you now and I would've accepted you when I first met you."

Axel rolled his eyes. Trust Roxas to be the only human on earth to get pissed at him for not showing him how dangerous and scary he was. "Fine, I guess I kind of knew you would accept me."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Roxas demanded, folding his arms and gazing sternly at him. "Well?"

"Every demon must mate with a human before the end of their 21st year. It seems easy, but once bound with a human, the two are connected for life. Only death breaks the connection, but even that doesn't work because you'll both end up dead." Axel explained, shrugging helplessly. "There's nothing we can do. The good demons treat it like a backwards dating exercise. It's better to mate with someone you like…not love."

Embarrassed, Axel averted his eyes from Roxas. "I wasn't even planning on doing that. I'm not exactly a saint, kid. I was just going to find some human off the street and…well, you know. But then I started talking to you and I saw how wonderful you were and I just…_damn it_."

His chakrams vanished and he took the opportunity to bury his face in his hands. This was all just too…too complicated. And here he was, sharing all of these complications with the one person he actually cared about above all else.

"How do you mate?" Roxas asked curiously, walking over and experimentally poking Axel's flaming hair with one finger. When he didn't get burned—just felt a pleasant tingle—he buried both hands in the flames

Axel didn't look up. He kept his face hidden, even as he responded, "By having sex."

The fingers stilled. Axel couldn't see the kid's face, but he could bet that the wheels were turning in his cute little blonde head. Now all of those unfulfilled make-out sessions weren't such weird circumstances.

When another moment of silence passed without a response, curiosity got the better of him and he found himself looking up into confused blue eyes. Softly, he asked him, "What are you thinking?"

Roxas hummed as he tried to get his thoughts together, unconsciously running a hand down one of Axel's tattoos. Covering his face with one palm out of sheer incomprehension, which was something Axel was sure didn't happen a lot for the kid, he slowly questioned, "So…a demon must mate with a human before their 21st birthday, otherwise they die?"

"Yes." Axel answered with a simple nod. Roxas nodded too, before asking his next question. "And how old are you?"

"I already told you. I'm twenty. I didn't lie about that." Axel huffed. At Roxas' pointed glare, he coughed and tried to be more understanding. It wasn't like he was truthful about everything all the time…how would Roxas know unless he asked? He cracked a small grin in apology. "Sorry."

Roxas stood thinking for a while, so Axel chose to stare at him, trying to hide the sadness that was developing with each second passed. By the end of the day, he would never see this kid again. Aw man…

Suddenly, something clicked in Roxas' head. He gaped at Axel in pure shock. "Your birthday is today, isn't it?"

Ruefully and a little sadly, Axel nodded. "Yeah, kid, it is."

"So, what you're saying is…if you don't have sex with someone before the end of the day, you're going to die?" Roxas asked uncertainly, a slight waver to his voice. Axel didn't trust his words, so he just nodded slowly. Unhappily.

Roxas remained silent for a moment before finally whispering, "Well let's have sex then."

Axel didn't think he heard this kid correctly. "What? You wanna…fuck?"

Roxas' cheeks were so red they matched Axel's hair. "Yes, okay? That's what I said, isn't it?" Then his embarrassment turned to anger. "And what the hell was your problem, then, when you turned me down? Repeatedly, might I add! I've offered myself to you countless times, you dummy!"

"You don't understand." Axel replied testily, frustration making him impatient. "Mating with me will ruin your life! You'll be bound to me until you die! You'll be mine…forever. How could you want that, Roxas?"

Roxas folded his arms and glared at him. Lowly, he snapped, "Don't you dare question my feelings, Axel. You know how I feel about you."

Axel groaned and, in a fit of uncontrolled anger, rammed his fist into the refrigerator. The poor appliance crumbled in on itself from the pure strength and the unnatural heat. Roxas stared at him in astonishment, even as Axel gritted out, "Stop tempting me, Roxas! I'm trying to do the right thing here. I want you to follow your dreams! You'll have to spend time in the Succubus Society…you'll never be able to break-up with me! You'll physically be _chained_ to me."

"Chained?" Roxas repeated doubtfully, like he didn't believe him. Axel nodded enthusiastically, hoping that the kid was finally understanding the sacrifices he'd have to make.

"That's right. We'll be connected by an actual chain that will be invisible to humans but very distinctive to other demons and their mates."

Roxas made a thoughtful face. "I didn't think we'd actually be chained together."

"Crazy, right? A little too crazy for you." Axel agreed, chuckling with a nonchalance he didn't feel. "So why don't you just go on home and forget…forget you ever met me?"

_Please don't, Roxas. You'd better not forget me.  
_

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. 'A-X-E-L, got it memorized?' Remember that? Anyway, I accept the terms."

Axel's mouth dropped open. He couldn't be serious. "You…what?"

Roxas smiled and wrapped his arms slowly around Axel's neck, pulling him close. "I accept the terms to be your mate. I want to be yours…forever."

Axel shuddered in defeat. Oh no…there goes his resistance. He didn't deserve Roxas. But he wanted him. He wanted Roxas so, so much. Roxas Strife had turned out to be the love of his life. But mating with him would be the most selfish thing he'd ever do. He loved Roxas too much to be with him.

"I can't." Axel whispered without moving away. He may be letting him down, but that didn't mean he planned to break the embrace. "Roxas, I can't."

Roxas growled under his breath, squeezing Axel even tighter. "Stop rejecting me. Accept my love. Just take it. Just take me!"

"You don't know what you're saying—"

Roxas narrowed his eyes at him darkly. Uh oh… "Shut up. All I've been hearing is what _you_ think _I_ don't need. What about what I want, huh? Doesn't my opinion matter too? I've thought about the consequences. I've considered the cons. Truth is, I've decided that I don't care. I love you. Sorry, but it's true. Because of that, I want to be yours. Make me _yours_, Axel."

_Make me yours, Axel._

Axel sighed, inhaling the sweet scent that was Roxas. Was there really any arguing with this kid?

"It's not going to be easy, you know." Axel warned, pulling away to search feisty blue eyes. "Being with a demon is no picnic."

"You're a half-demon, remember?" Roxas retorted cheekily, grinning when Axel rolled his eyes. "Besides, I'm no picnic either."

Axel nodded almost instantaneously. "That's for damn sure."

Roxas snorted but leaned forward to gently kiss Axel on the nose. "Really, you'd better claim me already. If you don't, no one will."

Axel placed a kiss to Roxas temple, shaking his head as he pulled away. "Not true. When I claim you, it'll only be to take you off the market. You're too damn desirable for your own good."

Roxas' whole demeanor brightened. "_When_?"

Axel huffed teasingly. "Yes, when. You win. We'll fuck since you want me so much."

That beautiful blush that Axel had come to love erupted on the kid's face. Stammering, Roxas nervously asked him if he meant…right now. Axel gave him a look. Yeah, right…like he was going to wait any longer to be inside of him…

Roxas caught his breath when he saw the desire rising to the surface of Axel's gorgeous green eyes. He was serious about this. Shit! Right here, right now…he was about to get good and fucked.

_Thank Zeus_.

Unable to wait any longer, Roxas launched himself at Axel, pushing the taller male into the wall with strength that surprised both of them. Despite his lust, he felt a grin tug at the sides of his mouth. _I always get what I want._

He was still grinning when Axel kissed him. Practically reading his mind, Axel kissed up his neck to his ear, whispering fondly, "You are such a brat."

Tingles raced down Roxas' spine. _He's so close_… "You like it, admit it."

Axel hummed grudgingly in agreement, languidly moving his left hand between their bodies and down so that he could feel Roxas' chest expand with every quickening breath. Damn…Roxas was breathing so fast.

Axel kissed back down his neck and to his chest but was met with fabric instead of skin. What the hell? Frustrated, he conjured a small flame in the shape of a spider. Roxas watched, fascinated, as the fire spider raced up his shirt, burning it to ash without hesitation. When there was nothing left to burn, the spider kissed his bare shoulder before leaping back into Axel's palm. Axel's eyes never left Roxas' face, even as he snapped, making the spider vanish in thin air.

Warily, Axel murmured, "I think he likes you. He never kisses anyone."

"What was that thing?" Roxas asked breathlessly, startled blue eyes staring up into cautious green ones. "Did…did you make him?"

Axel shrugged self-consciously, feeling embarrassed. Demons in the Succubus Society rarely channeled their powers for that sort of thing. But ever since Axel was a young boy, he had been making creatures. The spider was the first thing he could make from his fire powers. This was the first time in years he had shown anyone his little pet; the last person he had shown him to was Zexion, who had laughed for a good three weeks.

"What his name?" Roxas implored softly, giving him an encouraging smile. "C'mon, if I'm going to be bound to you forever, we might as well start getting to know each other for real."

Good point well made. Actually blushing, he grumbled, "Siz. It's short for Sizzle."

Roxas' smile grew wider at his obvious embarrassment. "You're so cute."

Axel smirked, feeling his blush fade as he drank in Roxas' nakedness from the waist up. He wasn't the one looking cute right now. He wrapped his arms around Roxas' waist and pulled him closer to him so that their chests and hips were pressed against each other. For a second, Axel just hugged him. In this exact second, all he wanted was to feel the boy against him…he wanted to ensure that this was really happening and that Roxas was really here, offering himself so that he wouldn't die.

Roxas wrapped his arms around Axel's ribcage and squeezed, letting him have this small second of tenderness before he pounced again. Clearly this "demon" needed it. And as he stood, bathed in intimacy, he realized just how tough a job this would be. Not being with a demon. _Loving_ a demon. Clearly Axel hadn't had a lot of love in his life.

Roxas started slowly kissing Axel everywhere; his neck, his ears, his nose, his eyelids, his mouth…everywhere he could reach while on his tiptoes. Axel groaned softly, basking in his special attention. Roxas' lips felt amazing. He slid big hands down Roxas' naked chest, stopping at his faint muscles to trace them, before sliding back up to tease gradually hardening nipples.

He pinched Roxas' left nipple with his thumb and index finger, rolling it around and around in a tantalizing circle. Roxas squirmed, feeling his body completely succumb to Axel's menstruations. When Axel reached down and took the right nipple in his mouth, tugging it hard between his teeth, Roxas' body arched in response to the rough change. _So good…_

Roxas writhed in his arms as Axel continued his assault on his nipples, switching back and forth between each one with varying degrees of roughness so that there was never a pattern. Roxas' nipples were painfully hard, his cock swollen and aching. Unable to help himself, his hips arched and rubbed against Axel's, causing them both to moan at the delicious friction.

Axel growled and grinded roughly into Roxas, making the blonde sag against him as he went completely weak in the knees. The redhead smirked; he could take a hint. He placed his hands under Roxas' ass and squeezed hard, earning a cry, before picking him up and putting his legs around his waist. Roxas tightened his grip as Axel carried them to his bedroom, where they could get better…acquainted…on his bed.

Axel was practically salivating. _Shit, this is a dream come fucking true. _He savagely tossed Roxas on the bed, hardly giving him a chance to breathe before covering his body with his own. Roxas clutched the bed sheets with his fingers and toes as Axel ghosted his lips down his body and over his erection through his jeans. Wasting no time, he snapped his fingers…and Roxas' jeans and boxers burst into flames and disintegrated. Roxas froze in complete shock. Holy shit!

Axel's breath caught in his throat. There was Roxas, naked as the day he was born…and all he could do was stare. He was so beautiful. He was seeing the blonde completely vulnerable for the first time ever…and the poor kid looked scared shitless.

_Calm down, Axel. _The last thing he wanted to do was scare Roxas away, especially now that they were about to bond forever. He sat up, hesitating slightly…

Roxas launched himself into Axel's arms, pushing him onto his back and showering him with kisses. Surprised, Axel blinked, staring up into burning blue eyes before they slid closed. Well, one thing was clear. Roxas had sensed his doubt and was not happy about it. Axel smirked into the kiss and allowed his own eyes to fall closed. Fine. No more doubts.

He reached down between them and wasted no time in grasping Roxas' cock in his hand. Roxas jolted, his body tensing in surprise. Axel chuckled against his lips and squeezed, but didn't move his hand whatsoever. It was time to test the limits of his future mate.

Roxas made a sound of protest in the back of his throat. He lifted his head to look Axel in the eye. "I know what you're doing," He grumbled, his voice husky with lust.

Axel licked his lips and murmured, "I know you know. Tell me what you want."

Roxas blushed and ducked his head. Shit. Sex was one thing—he'd thought about this moment for so long, he couldn't possibly wimp out now. But being so vulnerable while his damn dick was hanging out…_that_ was the most embarrassing thing ever.

Uncomfortably, he replied with, "Isn't it obvious?"

Axel grinned and Roxas' heart almost stopped. "Not to me, kid." Just to tempt him even more, he brushed the tip of Roxas' penis lightly wit his thumb, causing his breath to hiss from his teeth.

"Axel…" Roxas began uncertainly, looking at the ceiling just to avoid eye contact, "please, um, move your hand."

"Oh, you mean the hand touching your hip?" Axel teased, patting Roxas' thigh with his free left hand. "That what you meant?"

"The one on my dick, damn you." Roxas snapped, bucking his hips so his penis moved up into Axel's tight grip. "Stroke me, hard…tight…I need it!"

Satisfied, Axel squeezed even harder and began to jerk Roxas off quickly, not hiding his eagerness. Roxas, for his part, tried not to fall apart. He clutched the sheets, his knuckles turning white. _Shit. Shit! Too fast! Too good!_

The darkened head of his penis peaked between Axel's fingers with every fast, rough stroke. His precome oozed from the tip and slid down as a slick, musky mess developed between his long fingers. Their eyes met and Axel gave him a devilish wink. Roxas could only moan. This was everything he ever wanted. _Axel_ was everything he ever wanted.

His back arched. His toes curled. His body was ready. He let out a wanton sigh of Axel's name. "_Axel_…"

Axel's lips caressed his ear. Purring, he asked lowly, "Do you want to come?"

Axel's other hand began to massage his balls, making him jerk. Roxas nodded fervently, not trusting his words. He didn't want to beg. Not yet. Fortunately, Axel took mercy on him with a naughty grin that gave him chills…and dug his thumb into the slit on the head of his penis.

"_Ahhh! Ah, Axel, Axel_!" Roxas cried as semen spurted from his penis, all over Axel's chest. When he was finished, his body sank into the bed, boneless and spent. He sighed contently when he felt his lover—_lover_!—nuzzle his neck with his face.

"I love you," Roxas breathed, weakly wrapping his arms around Axel's neck. "Say it back."

Axel chuckled as he sat up, pulling his clothes off. Bright blue eyes raked over his nude body hungrily. "You're so bossy, Kid."

"Yeah, I know. Now say it, Rosebud." The words may have sounded overbearing, but the waver in his voice gave him away. Axel smiled softly, gently running a hand through his blonde hair. He leaned down so that his lips were caressing his ear whenever he moved them. "Fuck…I surrender. I love you"

Then he slipped two lubricated fingers inside of him.

Roxas arched off the bed with a cry that was swallowed by Axel's kiss. When he could breathe again, he stammered out, "W-When did...did you…you know…"

Axel chuckled, his voice deep with lust as he moved his fingers in and out of Roxas' hole. "Demons are fast."

Roxas groaned, reaching out and clutching his shoulders. "W-What else…should I…_aaah_…expect?"

Axel thought about it, idly stretching Roxas as he chewed his lip. "I can't think…my head's all foggy."

Roxas cracked a smile and shrugged helplessly. "Me too. Ah, Axel, it feels…_I _feel…"

Axel nodded as he added a third and fourth finger, watching Roxas writhe with hooded eyes. "I know. Fuck, you're _melting_ around my fingers."

The blonde pulled on his spikes and pushed down on his fingers. Axel cursed as he felt Roxas' flesh suck at his fingers to go deeper. "_Shit_…"

"Inside me, Axel. Get…inside me, now." Roxas ordered, gathering all of his willpower and pushing away from Axel so that their connection was broken. Immediately, he felt unhinged without him. "Hurry, grab the—put it on your—just hurry, dammit!"

Axel quickly scrambled for the lube that he had carelessly tossed over his shoulder earlier. _Shit shit shit. Roxas!_ He finally reached the bottle but almost dropped it when he looked up to see Roxas spreading his cheeks wide, giving him easy access. He bit back a moan and grabbed his cock tightly, spreading lube all over his length.

He arranged himself over Roxas and…finally…_finally_…he slid inside him with one smooth thrust. They were one.

Roxas gasped like a fish in search of air and dropped his head in his arms. His body shuddered as his eyes prickled with hot tears. Axel immediately wished he had entered him more slowly. Maybe he could have adjusted him better for his thick, long cock. Damn.

He leaned down and pressed kisses against Roxas' back, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him closer. He could already feel Roxas' human essence mixing with his own. He couldn't hold in a blissful smile. They were going to be together. Forever.

After a few minutes had passed, Roxas raised his head and looked back at him. His body still held some tension, but his blue eyes were clear and filed with adoration. "Axel…I can feel you throbbing inside of me."

Axel grinned back at him. "And I can feel you squeezing around me."

"I'm ready. I promise." Roxas whined, pushing back on his cock. Axel groaned and thrust forward against his will. The body underneath him was just so hot. Thankfully, Roxas wasn't lying—he cried out in pleasure and gripped the bed with both hands.

Axel felt the power of their newfound physical connection wash over him, and suddenly he couldn't control himself anymore. The demon in him took over. He pounded into Roxas furiously, holding nothing back. _"Roxas….oh, kid…"_

"_Axel, Axel, ah, ah, ah, ah!"_ Roxas whimpered loudly, feeling the heat rising between them. Damn, it was getting hot. Literally. Hazy, unfocused eyes glanced up…and saw that he and Axel were actually on fire!

"Zeus! We're on fucking fire!" Roxas shouted, pushing back on Axel to get him to let up on his relentless thrusts. But the action only shifted Axel's cock deeper in him, and suddenly his prostate was being nailed over and over again.

Roxas squealed in pure ecstasy, unable to stop a giggle. Zeus, this was so amazing! They were on _fire_, he and Axel were _fucking_, and this was so fun, so—

"Ouch!" He yelped, whipping his head around to stare at Axel like he was crazy. "Did you just…bite me?"

Axel didn't answer. Instead, he sucked Roxas' blood _hard_, humming in pleasure from the delicious taste of his lover. He tasted like a berry flavor mixed with the metallic taste of blood itself. It was…intoxicating.

Roxas groaned, slumping in submission against Axel. "Why does it feel so _good_?"

Axel finally pulled off and grinned, his teeth dripping with blood. "I can fill you with so much pleasure, Roxas. Pleasure you've never even imagined. As a demon, that's my gift to you."

"Oh…" He sighed longingly, spreading his legs wider so that Axel could get deeper. "That's…_nice_."

"Yeah, well, consider it your consolation prize for mating with me. Besides," Axel smirked, slamming into his prostate with deep, pounding thrusts, "I need…for you…to come. Come _now_."

The pace was too fast, too deep. Roxas screamed and writhed and keened wildly in the moments before his cock suddenly spurted semen all over the bed beneath him. Axel wasn't too far behind. With a grunt, he was shooting inside Roxas, filling him up with his come.

Roxas blinked as he felt Axel's penis still throbbing inside of him. Wow, he had a lot saved up. "Wow, Axel…were you a virgin, too?"

Axel laughed and kissed the back of his shoulder. Roxas thought he was a virgin. How adorable. "No, kid, I wasn't. I've been around the block with plenty of demons."

Oh shit, wrong word choice. Roxas growled at him as Axel hastened to backtrack.. "I mean… my body was always in search of my true mate. Now I've found it in you. You're body belongs to me now. Forever."

Roxas didn't have anything to say to that. He still wasn't sure if he liked the idea of his body being considered a possession. But at least Axel loved him and wanted him until the ends of time. That thought was what filled him with happiness. _That_ was what he wanted to focus on in his afterglow.

Finally, when he couldn't prolong disconnecting any longer, Axel groaned and slid out of him, flopping down onto the bed next to him with a sigh. Roxas shifted to lie on his back beside him, but screamed when he felt searing pain shoot up his spine.

Soothing hands were immediately pressing against his cheeks and temples. "Shh, shh...I'm here. It's okay. You're okay."

Roxas glared at him. "I'm not okay, damnit. I can't even fucking move!"

Axel looked crestfallen. He pulled Roxas against him, and that helped a little. At least, emotionally. "I'm sorry. Once I was inside of you, I just…I lost control. We were finally connected."

All traces of Roxas' anger melted away at that. How could he possibly stay angry when Axel was looking at him with such wide, cautious eyes? "It's okay. I've read that the pain will go away in a day or so."

Axel suddenly looked uncomfortable. Roxas sighed exasperatedly. What now?

"What?"

"Well," Axel began, smoothing Roxas' drenched blonde strands, "In a couple of hours, our bodies will merge with one another. The chain will pull from the depths your heart and enter mine. It will be excruciating for you, as a human."

Roxas' stomach took that opportunity to make a run for it, causing him to quickly roll over and vomit all over Axel's floor. Coughing, he blurrily looked down and saw that he had just barfed up blood. _A lot_ of blood.

"Axel!" He called out fearfully, reaching weakly for him. Where was Axel? Axel…

Axel had been watching him with worried green eyes. He'd never actually seen a binding ritual between a demon and a human, but he didn't think this was normal. "_Axel_!" At the sound of his voice, he hurriedly wrapped Roxas back in his arms.

"It's alright, kid. I got you. It'll all be over soon." He whispered soothingly, trying to comfort both Roxas and himself. Roxas doubled over in his arms, clutching his chest as he screamed out in pain. "Ah, it hurts! It's ripping me apart!"

"Roxas! Stay here, I'll…I'll call Zexion! I'll get help!"

"Don't fucking.—_argh_!—call Zexion! Don't leave me! Stay here…unnghhh!" Roxas shouted, tugging him back down. He curled up in a little ball, trying to block out the pain.

Axel felt absolutely helpless. Unsure of what else to do but to follow Roxas' wishes, he covered his body with his own, trying to give him a little contact. Roxas was writhing beneath him, screaming in pain, clawing at the sheets…

Suddenly, Roxas stopped moving. Panicked, Axel flipped the boy onto his front and gaped. Roxas was practically _blue_ and he wasn't breathing. His body spasmed once more before going completely still. Axel put his ear to Roxas' mouth. No breath. He moved down and listened for a heart beat. No heart beat.

No.

"Roxas. Kid." Axel gasped, feeling everything around him begin to shake. He felt clammy and cold even though he was drenched in sweat. Roxas was…? He was actually…?

Dead?

* * *

**Part two coming soon! **


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